Toronto Stock Exchange Symbol: SXC
Systems Xcellence Signs MEDICARE DRUG DISCOUNT CARD PARTNERSHIP with liberty healthcare groupMILTON, Ontario May 5, 2004, Systems Xcellence Inc., (“SXC”) (TSX: SXC) a leading provider of healthcare information technology solutions throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain, today announced a contract through its U.S. subsidiary, SXC Health Solutions, Inc., to provide a variety of pharmacy benefits processing services to Liberty Healthcare Group, Inc. (“Liberty”), a PolyMedica Corporation (“PolyMedica”) (NNM: PLMD) subsidiary located in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Under terms of the agreement, Liberty will utilize products from SXC’s suite of transaction processing applications and SXC’s pharmacy network to process prescription drug benefits generated by Liberty’s Medicare-approved discount drug card program. Additionally, Liberty will access SXC’s rebate processing systems and related services. “Our partnership with Liberty will provide prescription drug discounts and process Medicare-approved Drug Discount Card claims for the new CMS Program. Liberty will use our negotiated discounts from pharmacies and drug manufacturers to pass along savings of up to 40% to Medicare eligible beneficiaries not covered by an existing prescription drug benefit program,” said Gordon S. Glenn, President and CEO of SXC. “Through nationwide direct-to-consumer advertising campaigns, Liberty has become a major Medicare provider of mail-delivery diabetes testing supplies, serving approximately 700,000 customers nationwide. More information on PolyMedica can be found at www.polymedica.com.” The new Medicare drug card program was included in the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) as a means to provide eligible Medicare beneficiaries immediate assistance on prescription drug costs before the comprehensive Medicare drug benefit starts in 2006. A key part of the Medicare-approved prescription drug discount card program is a subsidy of up to $600 a year for eligible lower-income beneficiaries. The Medicare Discount Drug Card program is available to all Medicare beneficiaries and provides competitive discounts on brand name and generic prescription drugs. The program is designed to save Medicare beneficiaries money and provide them access to the pharmaceutical drugs they need. In addition to savings on prescription drugs, the new law also improves preventive benefits and enhances access to doctors and medical care for eligible Medicare beneficiaries, especially those living in rural areas. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently endorsed general card sponsors from the applicants, which included Liberty and SXC. About Systems Xcellence Inc Systems Xcellence (SXC) is headquartered in Milton, Ontario with offices and processing centres in Lombard, Illinois, Scottsdale, Arizona and Victoria, British Columbia. SXC is a leading provider of healthcare information technology solutions and services to the healthcare benefits management industry. The company’s product offerings and solutions combine a wide range of software applications, application service provider (ASP) processing services and professional services, designed for many of the largest organizations in the pharmaceutical supply chain, such as pharmacy benefit managers, managed care organizations, retail pharmacy chains and other healthcare intermediaries. SXC can be found on the Internet at www.sxc.com. This press release contains forward-looking
statements based on current expectations. These forward-looking statements
entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements.
Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully
discussed in the Company's Annual Information
Form.
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