Rite Aid to Provide Pharmacy Benefit Management Services; ProCare RX Will Provide Back-Office Support for New Rite Aid PBM

CAMP HILL, Pa.--April 22, 2005--Rite Aid Corporation (NYSE,PCX:RAD) announced today that it will provide pharmacy benefit management (PBM) services to employers, health plans and insurance companies. Rite Aid said it will offer a 90-day at retail product as an alternative to mail order prescriptions.


Rite Aid said it has contracted with ProCare RX, a fully integrated pharmacy benefit solutions provider in Duluth, Georgia, to provide back-office services for the new PBM, including claims adjudication, drug formulary management, network management and member services.

“We will offer a low-cost alternative to other offerings in the market place,” said Mark de Bruin, senior vice president of pharmacy services for Rite Aid. He said that along with a 90-day at retail product, Rite Aid will also offer mail order capabilities for clients who require them.

Rite Aid Corporation is one of the nation’s leading drugstore chains with annual revenues of $16.8 billion and approximately 3,400 stores in 28 states and the District of Columbia. Information about Rite Aid, including corporate background and press releases, is available through the company’s website at www.riteaid.com.

ProCare RX, founded in 1988, provides pharmacy benefit management services, computer systems and solutions, consulting and software development to the healthcare industry. Over the past 15 years, the company has moved from traditional claims processing services into a fully integrated pharmacy benefit management solutions provider. Information about ProCare RX is available at www.procarerx.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements include our high level of indebtedness, our ability to make interest and principal payments on our debt and satisfy the other covenants contained in our senior secured credit facility and other debt agreements, our ability to improve the operating performance of our existing stores in accordance with our long term strategy, our ability to hire and retain pharmacists and other store personnel, the outcomes of pending lawsuits and governmental investigations, competitive pricing pressures, continued consolidation of the drugstore industry, the efforts of third-party payors to reduce prescription drug reimbursements and encourage mail order, changes in state or federal legislation or regulations, the success of planned advertising and merchandising strategies, general economic conditions and inflation, interest rate movements, access to capital and our relationship with our suppliers. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these and other factors, risks and uncertainties. Readers are also directed to consider other risks and uncertainties discussed in documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements can be identified through the use of words such as “may”, “will”, “intend”, “plan”, “project”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “could”, “should”, “would”, “believe”, “estimate”, “contemplate”, and “possible”.

See the 8-K furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 7, 2005 for definition, purpose and reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures referred to herein.

Contact Information

Karen Rugen

Media Contact

Rite Aid Corporation

Contact via E-mail