An entrepreneurial organization from its founding, Medco Health has grown dramatically from its early roots that date back to the 1960s. Today, about 1 in 4 Americans are enrolled in a Medco Health plan, and we continue to be successful in helping millions of patients and their health plans obtain safe and affordable access to prescription medications.

Recognizing the growing importance of prescription drug care and the role of the pharmacist, Medco Health was built by focusing on how innovation, technology and important clinical interventions could improve the quality of care for millions of Americans.

Historically, prescription drugs were dispensed to patients through a complex network of manufacturers, wholesalers, and relatively small, local retailers. This pharmacy landscape thus presented a motivation to the kind of entrepreneurship that has led Medco Health to realize its vision for the "Pharmacy for the Future," the commitment to a vision that will link patients, physicians, and pharmacists to improve the quality of patient care and reduce prescription drug benefit costs.

In 1991, when Medco Health began planning a "Pharmacy for the Future," the idea had a familiar ring to Fred Klein, a pharmacist and founder of Medco Health's predecessor company. It was the prescription side of the business that sparked his entrepreneurial imagination as many as 40 years ago. He recognized that a mail-order enterprise had substantial potential for development: he calculated what the cost per member might be each month, based on the average price of a prescription, the number of prescriptions filled, and the relevant demographics. In the early 1960s, he laid out an entire mail-order program on paper. Then, in 1969, the union of the ILGWU adopted his plan and the nation's first state-of-the-art mail-order service began.

Today, Medco Health is the nation's largest pharmacy benefits manager (PBM) and continues to set the standard in the industry for innovation and excellence.