Eckerd battles Blue Cross co-pay. (Eckerd Corp. urging customers to transfer from Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare to new health schemes)

At stake: Millions in managed care contracts

Eckerd Corp., finding itself stung by managed care, has sent out notices to thousands of its customers in 13 states urging them to switch from Blue Cross Blue Shield Medicare coverage to new health plans.

At issue in the Eckerd-Blue Cross battle is a new 20 percent co-payment on federal retirees' medical prescriptions, which is intended to encourage mail-order prescription-filling.

Blue Cross imposed the co-payment as a way of spurring those retirees to use the theoretically less-costly mail order houses.

The Washington, D.C.-based Blue Cross Blue Shield Association instituted the new co-payment nationwide Jan. 1 for …