If this continues, big box and discount retailers will be giving drugs away. With the recent announcements that Target is matching Wal-Mart’s $4 drug price deal, Wal-Mart is speeding up the roll-out of their $4 script program, and K-Mart has had a 90 day supply of 184 generics for $15 offer since May, the price war has started.
Among the criticisms of the Wal-Mart initiative is that only one of the 20 drugs most commonly prescribed is on the discount list. Regardless, the Wal-Mart move has shaken up the pharma market, and forced retail outlets to quickly figure out their stance.
Chain store H-E-B announced their offering – a $5 for 500 drug program(free registration required). Notably absent from the battlefield are two of the larger pharmacy chains; CVS and Walgreens have said they will not be joining the fray.
The national association of independent pharmacies is outraged by Wal-Mart’s initiative; my sense is this is in large part because they just can’t stand the big company, although they have noted that the drugs covered by the $4 plan are not exactly the most popular, newest, best models on the market.
And lost in most of the press has been any recognition that many community pharmacies have long offered generic discount buying plans to customers, plans that cover more drugs (or rather more drugs that people actually use) than the Wal-Mart plan.
What does this mean for you?
The smoke has not all been generated yet, much less started to clear, so it’s hard to tell. Wait a few weeks and we should be able to make some sense of the hubbub.
These $4.00 &$5.00 gneric help on cheap generics.Some generics (Generic for Plavix) is still over $3.50
Don’t be fooled into thinking seniors are winning. I ordered Rx from
Canada as I have for years before part D. Customs took the Rx and destroyed it with 80,000 others. Our Govt at work! We want to buy from Canada if they are cheaper for the same products!
As more and more generics become available from multiple sources, Wal-Mart will be able to expand the number of drugs it offers at these low (or slightly higher) price points. Wal-Mart does not need to make much profit on these drugs if it gets more people into their stores.
Another significant benefit to Wal-Mart is that this plan makes it more difficult for critics of the health insurance coverage they provide to their employees to say that Wal-Mart just doesn’t care….
Joe,
You have a really interesting blog!
I have been following the Wal-Mart issue for a few weeks on my blog. There’s a legitimate argument to be made that the Wal-Mart move will have a big impact and an almost as-compelling opposite argument. Check out my “Scenarios for Wal-Mart’s Impact” here:
http://drugchannels.blogspot.com/2006/10/vote-on-scenarios-for-wal-marts-impact.html
Adam