Longtime McAllen pharmacy among many affected by statewide error that drove customers away

Lee’s Pharmacy owner Danny Vela worries that he lost dozens of customers this month after a computer glitch by a massive corporation sent out letters prompting patients to switch retailers — or pay out-of-network prices in 2026. 

Express Scripts Inc., a pharmacy benefit management company owned by health insurance giant Cigna, sent letters on Dec.1 warning patients insured by The University of Texas System that Lee’s Pharmacy would no longer be in-network as of Jan. 1, according to a letter obtained by the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal. Pharmacy benefit managers, like Express Scripts, are third-party brokers that negotiate prices between insurance companies and pharmaceutical manufacturers. 

Lee’s Pharmacy, established in 1952, operates two locations in McAllen. Both were affected. 

At one location, Express Scripts sent the notice to nearly half of the company’s customers, and at the other, it was mailed to about 25% of its patients. 

“When people started receiving those letters, we had a rash of people transferring their prescriptions out to one of the other pharmacies [listed] on the initial patient letter,” Vela said. “It was significant.” 

But that letter was a mistake. 

Lee’s Pharmacy is in-network. It signed a contract with Express Scripts in September that extends through next year. 

Express Scripts has since corrected its error with patients after independent pharmacies reached out to protest, but only after a critical healthcare enrollment deadline. 

Customers of independent pharmacies across the state received similar letters, Vela, a member of the Texas Pharmacy Association, said. 

“Their patients were getting similar letters saying that they had to switch their pharmacy to another store because that particular pharmacy was no longer in their network,” Vela said. 

The annual enrollment period for Medicare Part D — which provides prescription drug coverage for older adults — runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7 for plans that take effect next year.

“Due to a technical issue, some Medicare Part D beneficiaries received incorrect notices about their pharmacy’s network status for 2026. We are sending retraction letters to all impacted beneficiaries and following up with phone calls to ensure any confusion is resolved in a timely manner,” Express Scripts said in a written statement. “We have also communicated with impacted pharmacies. We apologize for any confusion this caused for beneficiaries and our pharmacy partners.”

There are nearly 300 pharmacies across the Rio Grande Valley. About 100 of them are affiliated with CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, and H-E-B. 

The relationship between independent pharmacies and pharmacy benefit management companies is already typically strained, as retailers have little power and often are reimbursed for less money than the medication costs to purchase, Vela said. 

The pharmacy benefit management companies are also pushing patients to order prescriptions via mail instead of using retailers, he said. 

Independent pharmacies already pushed for a new Texas law that took effect Sept. 1. It curbs the power of pharmacy benefit managers, including limits on payment adjustments after claims are reimbursed, among other measures.

“It’s usually a take-it-or-leave-it contract with these PBMs,” Vela said. “There’s a lot of hurdles for us to jump through. The PBMs will pay us below our cost on prescriptions, specifically the name-brand products, so you either have to carry the medication and hope that overall the customer becomes a breakeven patient or you’ve got other lines of business that will make up the rest of it.”