Rite Aid 2016 Annual Report Download - page 15

any standards established by these organizations could also impact health plan clients and/or the
services provided to them. PBMs also operate within the governance set forth by the Medicare Part D
program, which makes prescription drug coverage available to eligible Medicare beneficiaries through
private insurers. This program regulates all aspects of the provision of Medicare drug coverage,
including enrollment, formularies, pharmacy networks, marketing, and claims processing. The Medicare
Part D program has undergone significant legislative and regulatory changes since its inception, and
continues to attract a high degree of legislative and regulatory scrutiny. The applicable government
rules and regulations are expected to continue to evolve in the future.
Corporate Governance and Internet Address
We recognize that good corporate governance is an important means of protecting the interests of
our stockholders, associates, customers and the community. We have closely monitored and
implemented relevant legislative and regulatory corporate governance reforms, including provisions of
the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (‘‘Sarbanes-Oxley’’), the rules of the SEC interpreting and
implementing Sarbanes-Oxley and the corporate governance listing standards of the NYSE.
Our corporate governance information and materials, including our Certificate of Incorporation,
Bylaws, Corporate Governance Guidelines, the charters of our Audit Committee, Compensation
Committee and Nominating and Governance Committee, our Code of Ethics for the Chief Executive
Officer and Senior Financial Officers, our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct and our Related
Person Transaction Policy are posted on the corporate governance section of our website at
www.riteaid.com and are available in print upon request to Rite Aid Corporation, 30 Hunter Lane,
Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 17011, Attention: Corporate Secretary. Our Board will regularly review
corporate governance developments and modify these materials and practices as warranted.
Our website also provides information on how to contact us and other items of interest to
investors. We make available on our website, free of charge, our annual reports on Form 10-K,
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, Extensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) data files of our
annual report and quarterly reports beginning with our fiscal 2014 first quarter 10-Q, current reports on
Form 8-K and all amendments to these reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we file these
reports with, or furnish them to, the SEC. We do not intend for the information contained on our
website to be part of this annual report on Form 10-K.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
Factors Affecting our Future Prospects
Set forth below is a description of certain risk factors which we believe may be relevant to an
understanding of us and our business. Security holders are cautioned that these and other factors may
affect future performance and cause actual results to differ from those which may be anticipated. See
‘‘Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.’’
Risks Related to our Financial Condition
Current economic conditions may adversely affect our industry, business and results of operations.
The United States economy is continuing to feel the impact of the economic downturn that began
in late 2007, and the future economic environment may not fully recover to levels prior to the
downturn. This economic uncertainty has and could further lead to reduced consumer spending. If
consumer spending decreases or does not grow, we may not be able to sustain the improvement in our
same store sales. In addition, reduced or flat consumer spending may drive us and our competitors to
offer additional products at promotional prices, which would have a negative impact on our gross
profit. We operate a number of stores in areas that are experiencing a lower or slower recovery than
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