Kroger Health and Medical Mutual Announce Direct Agreement

Ensures Access to Kroger Family of Pharmacies for Medicare Advantage Members

CINCINNATI, Feb. 17, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kroger Health, the healthcare division of The Kroger Co. (Kroger), its Family of Pharmacies, and Medical Mutual, one of the oldest and largest health insurance companies based in Ohio, today announced a direct agreement to provide pharmacy services to Medical Mutual's Medicare Advantage members.

"We're excited to work with Medical Mutual as we continue to make healthcare more accessible for the communities we serve," said Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health. "Our collaboration demonstrates a continued commitment to providing patients with quality, affordable healthcare services."

This agreement, effective Jan. 1, 2023, allows Medical Mutual's MedMutual Advantage plan members to continue using Kroger as an in-network pharmacy.  

"Medical Mutual is pleased with our agreement with Kroger that keeps their pharmacies in our Medicare Advantage networks," says Dr. Tere Koenig, executive vice president and chief medical officer for Medical Mutual. "Because our 2023 Medicare Advantage HMO and PPO plans received five stars from CMS, anyone who overlooked Medical Mutual because they thought Kroger was out-of-network can switch to one of these plans anytime throughout the year."

What This Means for Express Scripts (ESI) Customers in 2023
While the Kroger Family of Pharmacies is not in the ESI network for 2023, it continues to participate in many other pharmacy benefit networks, for example the Medical Mutual Medicare Advantage network. In addition, people may continue to fill prescriptions at Kroger Family of Pharmacies through other options including joining the Kroger Rx Savings Club, using a third-party discount card or manufacturer coupon when eligible to purchase a drug, or paying the retail cash price. 

Additional network information can be found at kroger.com/payorupdate.

About Kroger Health:
Kroger Health, the healthcare division of The Kroger Co., is one of America's leading retail healthcare organizations. Kroger Health and the Kroger Family of Pharmacies and clinics operate more than 2,200 pharmacies and 226 clinics in 35 states serving more than 17 million customers annually. Our team of 24,000 healthcare practitioners, including pharmacists, nurse practitioners, dietitians and technicians, believe in practicing at the top of our licenses, enabling "food as medicine" to help prevent disease before it starts, and helping people live healthier lives. For more information, visit www.kroger.com/health.

About Kroger
At The Kroger Co., we are dedicated to our Purpose: To Feed the Human Spirit™. We are, across our family of companies nearly half a million associates who serve over 11 million customers daily through a seamless digital shopping experience and retail food stores under a variety of banner names, serving America through food inspiration and uplift, and creating #ZeroHungerZeroWaste communities by 2025. To learn more about us, visit our newsroom and investor relations site.

About Medical Mutual
Founded in 1934, Medical Mutual is the oldest and one of the largest health insurance companies based in Ohio. We provide peace of mind to more than 1.2 million Ohioans through our high-quality health, life, disability, dental, vision and indemnity plans. We offer fully insured and self-funded group coverage, including stop loss, as well as Medicare Advantage, Medicare Supplement and individual plans. Medical Mutual's status as a mutual company means we are owned by our members, not stockholders, so we don't answer to Wall Street analysts or pay dividends to investors. Instead, we focus on developing products and services that allow us to better serve our customers and the communities around us and help our members achieve their best possible health and quality of life. For more information, visit the company's website at MedMutual.com.

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SOURCE The Kroger Co.