Beginning Feb. 1, Douglas County’s drug benefit plan will change for county employees, and several large chain store pharmacies won’t be in the mix.

The moves comes after county officials were not able to reach an agreement with ReStat, the third-party administrator of the county’s benefit plan.

Assistant Douglas County Administrator Pam Madl said the county thought it would be paying pharmaceutical prices that were too high.

“It just wasn’t appropriate for us to use taxpayer dollars to support that,” she said.

County commissioners last week agreed to switch to MedTrak as the plan’s third-party administrator.

Beneficiaries under the plan will no longer be able to use pharmacies from larger retail companies, including Walmart, Walgreens and Target.

Lawrence pharmacies in the plan include Dillon’s, Hy-Vee, Jayhawk Pharmacy, Medical Arts Pharmacy and Sigler Pharmacy. Byrne’s Pharmacy in Eudora and Roberts Drug Store in Baldwin City are also included.

Madl said the county will reimburse — minus the co-payments — people who in an emergency need to get medication at a 24-hour pharmacy.

County officials don’t have exact projections yet about how much money this could save in the county’s budget, Madl said.

Under the county’s insurance plan, beneficiaries include about 600 employees, retirees or employees of agencies like Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center or the Douglas County extension office. About 600 other people, dependents and family members, also benefit.

• No meeting: Commissioners will not have their regular weekly meeting on Wednesday.