Wal-Mart, the nation's largest retailer, has announced that it will make nearly 300 generic drugs available for only $4 per prescription for up to a 30-day supply at commonly prescribed dosages.
The program, to be launched on September 22, will be available to customers and associates of the 65 Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sam's Club pharmacies in the Tampa Bay area, and will be expanded to the entire state of Florida in January 2007.
"Each day in our pharmacies we see customers struggle with the cost of prescription drugs," said Wal-Mart CEO H. Lee Scott, Jr. "By cutting the cost of many generics to $4, we are helping to ensure that our customers and associates get the medicines they need at a price they can afford. That's a real solution for our nation's working families."
The Alliance for Retired Americans applauded the action.
"The federal government should look to its friends at Wal-Mart and see that negotiating bulk discounts on prescription drugs can reduce the cost to consumers," said Edward Coyle, executive director of the Alliance.
However, Coyle added, "This action by Wal-Mart in no way absolves it of its many failures as a responsible employer. For example, three-quarters of a million Wal-Mart workers are uninsured or are on public health care. Wal-Mart passes on to taxpayers $1.2 billion in health care costs each year."
The company said the $4 price will be available to both the insured and the uninsured alike. The generic drugs included in the program are used to treat and manage conditions including allergies, cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Some antibiotics, antidepressants, antipsychotics and prescription vitamins are also included, the company said.
Should the program prove successful in Florida, company officials say they expect to expand it to other states during 2007.
"Competition and market forces have been absent from our healthcare system, and that has hurt working families tremendously," Scott said. "We are excited to take the lead in doing what we do best driving costs out of the system and passing those savings to our customers and associates."
The announcement comes at a time of growing frustration with the new Medicare Part D drug benefit, that features a so-called "donut hole" of liability.
The program covers drug costs up to a certain level, then provides additional coverage at a higher level. Consumers whose drug costs fall between those two points receive little or no benefit.
Wal-Mart officials say their generic drug program will help alleviate a major challenge for seniors who have fallen into the "doughnut hole" coverage gap in their Medicare Part D prescription drug plans and now find themselves responsible for paying 100 percent of their prescription medicine costs.
"Fifty-bucks for a year's supply of prescription drugs is a pretty darn good deal for consumers," said Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), an outspoken proponent of giving people access to lower-cost prescriptions. "Because Wal-Mart has the ability to shape the market, maybe other retailers will follow suit."
