Sen. Harry Reid to Medco Employees: Technology and Innovation Integral to Sustainable Healthcare Reform and Nevada's Future

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With one of the world's largest and most sophisticated pharmacies serving as the backdrop, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), today said innovative companies such as Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS) represent a bright future for a sustainable healthcare system for America – advancing clinical quality, lowering costs – and for Nevada by providing employment opportunities for skilled healthcare professionals.

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"In extending coverage to millions of Americans, it's more important than ever to ensure that we are at the same time focused on leveraging the skills of talented healthcare professionals with technology and innovation to deliver care more efficiently and more cost-effectively," said Reid, as he visited with Medco employees.  "This is the future of healthcare in America."

Senator Reid toured Medco's state-of-the-art automated pharmacy in Las Vegas – which has the capacity to dispense approximately 1 million prescriptions each week – greeting employees and learning about their important job of providing high-quality pharmacy and clinical care to the company's 65 million members.  Employees at the pharmacy include pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, customer service representatives, management and other operations functions.

"Particularly in a stressed economic environment, public and private employers, health plans, unions and individual consumers have been united by the desire to obtain ever-increasing value for each healthcare dollar they spend and they've been turning to Medco for answers," said  Medco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer David B. Snow Jr.  "That is why we are focused on advancing pharmacy to improve clinical outcomes – something we call 'making medicine smarter.'  Our clinical innovations are improving the lives of patients and lowering overall healthcare costs."

This value proposition has had strong appeal to the customers we serve, resulting in Medco's doubling in size from $30 billion to $60 billion in revenues over the past 6 years.  As a result, Medco expects to complete hiring over the next several months of as many as 350 people in its Nevada operations– continuing a trend of near double-digit hiring increases in the state over the past three years – to continue delivering that value every day.  Medco's pharmacy, located on the outskirts of Las Vegas is second only to the gaming industry as the area's largest employer, with the close to 1,700 employees.  Reid's visit on Thursday is one of many that the Senator has made to Medco's pharmacy since it opened in Las Vegas in 1996.

"After seeing the pharmacy first-hand I have an appreciation for the importance of advanced pharmacy in providing new solutions for a financially sustainable healthcare system," said Reid. "Medco's technology is remarkable and its pharmacies are setting new standards for safety and accuracy – and creating high-quality job opportunities for the people of Nevada."

About Medco

Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS) is pioneering the world's most advanced pharmacy® and its clinical research and innovations are part of Medco making medicine smarter™ for approximately 65 million members.

With more than 20,000 employees dedicated to improving patient health and reducing costs for a wide range of public and private sector clients, and 2009 revenue nearly $60 billion, Medco ranks 35th on the Fortune 500 list and is named among the world's most innovative, most admired and most trustworthy companies.

For more information, go to http://www.medcohealth.com.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and actual results may differ materially from those projected. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the risks and uncertainties that affect our business, particularly those mentioned in the Risk Factors section of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

SOURCE Medco Health Solutions, Inc.