Comprehensive Care Corporation enters into agreement with leading healthcare consulting firm

Jun 4 2013

Comprehensive Care Corporation (OTC BB: CHCR), a leading behavioral health, substance abuse and pharmacy management provider for employers, Taft-Hartley health and welfare funds, and managed care companies, today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Upstate Financial Service/John Argiro (collectively, "Mr. Argiro"), a leading consulting firm in healthcare to local and national unions, municipalities and private-sector groups. 

The agreement calls for Mr. Argiro providing his services, exclusively, to CompCare's wholly-owned subsidiary, CompCare Pharmacy Solutions, Inc., in connection with its marketing and selling of CompCare's pharmacy savings, behavioral health and wellness programs. Mr. Argiro currently serves as senior healthcare consultant to many unions, municipalities and private-sector groups having an aggregate total population of approximately 1.2 million lives with an annual aggregate pharmacy expense of approximately $1 billion.

"I and senior management of CompCare have worked with Mr. Argiro for in excess of six months, and we consider reaching this agreement with Mr. Argiro a proverbial 'coup.'  Mr. Argiro is one of the leading healthcare experts specializing in union relationships. He is extremely well respected by top labor leaders at both national and local levels. He is knowledgeable with respect to the ever-increasing costs in healthcare in general and the reasons those expenses keep going up. As such, we believe Mr. Argiro is well positioned to evaluate CompCare's Pharmacy Savings Program, recognize the impact the rising cost of pharmacy has on the overall costs of healthcare and recommend to his clients how CompCare's Pharmacy Savings Program can reduce those costs," said Mr. Ramon Martinez, President of CompCare Pharmacy Solutions, Inc.

Mr. Martinez continued, "In the last six months, Mr. Argiro has recommended our program, initially, to two local unions. Largely on the strength of that recommendation, both unions signed pharmacy agreements with CompCare, which are scheduled to launch later this summer. Though these first two locals are relatively smaller in size than Mr. Argiro's other clients, we expect them to provide CompCare with an annualized revenue of approximately $6 million. We are excited by Mr. Argiro's decision to work with CompCare in the continued marketing of our Pharmacy Savings Program to various sectors of his book of business and look forward to him recommending CompCare's programs to many of his other clients.  We believe that through Mr. Argiro's expertise, we will become the first choice for unions, working families, municipalities and self-insureds."

Mr. John Argiro, President of Upstate Financial Services, stated, "CompCare's Pharmacy Savings Program is unique in the pharmacy benefit management sector of healthcare and long overdue. My job is to look for the best healthcare programs for my clients, including pharmacy programs that will not only service their membership in the most efficient manner possible, but also in the most cost-effective manner possible without any decrease in the quality of care.  CompCare's Pharmacy Savings Program not only reduces pharmacy costs but, through its wellness and behavioral health components, I believe is designed to better service my clients' memberships than any other program in the marketplace.  I have specialized in this area for over seventeen years, and I am convinced that CompCare's program represents the next level of pharmacy benefits management in the healthcare industry."

Mr. Argiro continued, "I intend to recommend CompCare's Pharmacy Savings Program to many, if not most of, my other clients, and I fully expect that many of those clients will agree with my recommendation.  CompCare offers my clients a minimum of a 10% reduction from their prior years' pharmacy expenses; an at-risk program whereby CompCare takes on the full responsibility of my clients' pharmacy expenses at the reduced pricing; and a performance surety bond to guarantee my clients that CompCare will meet its commitment of service and pricing. This gives my clients peace of mind that their pharmacy expenses will not, unexpectedly, sky-rocket after a contract is signed. Their wellness and behavioral health programs, being an integral part of their pharmacy program, work to generally improve the health and well-being of my clients' population – another big plus.  I am excited to be part of this new paradigm in healthcare."

"With Mr. Argiro's excellent contacts and prestigious background, we anticipate successfully entering into numerous other union and municipality contracts in the upcoming months," concluded Mr. Ramon Martinez .