The world (at least the very small part of it that I inhabit) has been buzzing about Wal-Mart’s announcement that it will be pricing almost 300 generic drugs at $4 for a 30 day supply. Newspapers, private equity firms, PBMs, drug manufacturers, insurers, policy makers, and politicians are all rambling on about the various significant impacts this will have on the world, among them improving the lives of the uninsured.
I don’t get it.
First, Wal-Mart’s drug list includes only two scripts that are on the top 20 list. Two.
Second, the $4 price does not represent a big discount on many of these drugs (although it is substantial on a few).
Third, the drug list includes mostly drugs that are older generics where there are multiple manufacturers, enabling Wal-Mart to use it’s power to negotiate better deals by pitching one manufacturer against another.
Fourth, other drug retailers have been offering similar plans for some time now.
Fifth, of the 267 items on the original Wal-Mart list, there are only 118 distinct drugs, several with multiple formulations.
Sixth, very few of the drugs on the list are on any workers’ comp top drug list (e.g. naproxen)
Seventh, my take is Wal-Mart has done this for branding reasons.
Eighth, most drug chains have not followed suit (although retailers Target and K-Mart have).
The net – a very large and powerful retailer has announced it is cutting its prices on a relatively few items that are not exactly the pharmaceutical equivalent of the Talking Elmo doll (at least in terms of popularity).
Joe,
An informal poll on my website found a slight majority in favor of a major impact versus an alternative “Much Ado About Nothing” scenario (54%-46%). Check out the post and the two alternatives:
http://drugchannels.blogspot.com/2006/10/vote-on-scenarios-for-wal-marts-impact.html
Adam
My understanding is that generic drugs now account for 50%-55% of all prescriptions but only 20% of the dollars spent on drugs. The subset of generics that Wal-Mart is selling for $4 per 30 day supply accounts for 20% of prescriptions and probably, at most, 8% of drug spend. The jury is still out regarding the long term impact on the drug chains like Walgreens and CVS as well as the PBM’s, but I wouldn’t anticipate much of a decline in overall spending on drugs or even the growth rate of spending on drugs. By the way, even Wal-mart admits that it has no advantage vs anyone else in its ability to buy brand name drugs, and the margins on those are already quite small.
From a personal observation this “ploy” (for lack of a better word) by WalMart is nothing more than another attempt at driving up it’s retail business. I have noted lately that the number of “Super WalMarts” being built or already in existence seems to be a trend in many towns all across the country.
Many of these “Super-Centers” have in addition to retail and grocery services: banks, eye exam centers, McDonalds, Doughnut shops, auto repair, etc, etc, etc and now WalMart is “making headlines” by announcing $4.00 prescriptions.
They are simply using the healthcare ticket as a means to an end… To Pull in more consumers…
It doesn’t matter why they are doing it. Is what matters is that it did cause a buzz so more people that need it, are made aware of it and utilizing it. There is a huge need for medications for people that can’t afford what it costs to maintain a healthy life. Maybe other companies have been doing this but the public was unaware of it and now they are aware. And who cares if it doesn’t cover all of them or not? You can’t expect every med out there to be $4. At least there are 314 of them that can be a little easier on the pocketbook for some.
I really don’t care why Wal-Mart is doing this. Two of the three generics that I take on a daily basis are on the list and my local Wal-Mart is participating. I’m on a very small, fixed income and this really makes quite a difference for me. It means I can buy fresh fruit or veggies.
I live in a small, rural community with one ‘megastore’…Wal-Mart, so driving up their walk-in business doesn’t apply, here. The only people who don’t shop at Wal-Mart are the 11 folks who hate it badly enough to drive an hour-and-a-half to the nearest big city.
I’m tickled pink.
We have no insurance, thus we’ve been relegated to generics, anyway. All 4 of my husband’s drugs are on that list. Some meds at higher doses we’ll pay a multiple of 4. And still it’s affordable. I’ve been buying from Costco.com, and their pricing is great, but Walmart is down the street. I don’t have to wait by the mailbox. Truth is I’ll use whatever company is the cheapest. My loyalty is to the bottom line. I can’t afford anything else. BTW, Walmart is also one of several companies opening medical clinics in many of their retail locations, manned by nurse practitioners. Is it for the average guy with insurance? Maybe not. But it shows there are millions of people out there needing health care who can’t afford it. Whatever Walmart’s reason is for providing this service, it fills a gap that many Americans fall in to, or they wouldn’t be doing it. What does this say about our medical system in general? Instead of looking a gift horse in the mouth, maybe we should ask ourselves why it’s come to this.
The $4 list has all 3 of the prescriptions I take on it. When you look at the list, you see drugs for each many categories of medications/diseases. The top 20 or even the top 100 list in any store will be composed of pain killers and brand name drugs without a generic available, but also will include many of these $4 generics. If you review the list, the majority of people can find a way to save substantial amounts of money. Those stores who have been offering these drugs at a low price in the past have only done so to use them as a loss leader. I doubt Wal-Mart is using these as loss leaders. They claim the prices are here to stay.
What is cool is that most antibiotics that are routinely used are on the list, as well as those drugs that are first line defense in many diseases.
I have talked with several physician friends who have had multiple patients request a change in their prescriptions to ones that are covered, and low and behold all that I have talked to gladly do so. In fact, each of them are now utilizing those same generics.
Finally, Wal-Mart is not loosing money on these prescriptions, as most of them cost usually less than a dollar or so in acquisition costs. What they are doing to passing the savings on to the customer. People might want to ask why Walgreens or CVS is not doing so also.
Obviously if you don’t need to step into a Walmart and buy cheaper drugs or whatever it may be. I found two drugs my wife gets now at $10 a piece. If I do the math right thats $6 each for savings. I can use the extra $6. In fact I pick up pennies and drive a little out of my way to save a penny/gallon to fill the car.
I have to disagree with some of you here, although I’m sure it’s a ploy for name recognition, their 4.00 plan has decreased my outgoing Rx dollars by nearly 100.00 a month. My Rx’s used to cost me a little over 120.00 a month. I have high chol, diabetes and high bp. So for someone like me with these conditions, and without insurance, I am sure you can easily see that this is a Godsend.
need the meds list for the $4 plan for the state of Oregon and Washington state
its amazing to me how many people love to live in their little american towns but do not seem to care about how the infrastructure is paid for. ie; your SMALL businesses . if you love walmart and the other box stores , move to a metropolitan area where the little downtown merchants may remain , unlike the little independent merchants in rural america that depend on your support . oh , and by the way, also make those “beloved small towns” so quaint. they sure wouldnt be with boarded up windows on main street and tumbleweeds on the sidewalks. milk or rx ? use walmart . 4$ walmart rx or 8$ rx from an independent… common sense rules !
This is definatly “much ado” I went to walmart today to check prices and on the 2 that I take it will be twice as much as I pay at Costco. Plus I would have had to go back to doctor to get a new prescript because they only offer the 25mg not the 100mg. Which would then make it $16 a month. Also I would have to go to walmart every 30 days to refill, which is a pain.
It works for me…I have a handful of expensive meds (mostly my insulin) that I’ll continue to get at the corner pharmacy, but between my wife, my child, amd my own scrips, I can pay $48 a month instead of $180. Will I spend half of that ‘extra’ money while I’m at wally-world? Probably…but that’s half of $130 that I wouldn’t have, otherwise.
We have a pharmacy in the small town we live in. My husband takes alot of meds since he had a heart attack in 05. His meds alone cost us over 100 dollars a month. I take medicine for high blood pressure and chlorestrol. That costs us another 100 dollars a month. I had to take my husband to the er Friday night and he got some more scripts. I guess about here I should say we’re on a fixed income since he’s been disabled since 1993. I called Wal Mart to see just how much money (that I don’t have) these scripts would cost and they were on the 4 dollar list. Talk about a blessing from God!! I had no idea how I was going to pay for these meds. But 8 bucks was not so hard to come up with. I intend to check that list and see which of our other medicines I can get and I will change pharmacys. Wal Mart may be doing this 4 dollar thing to boost sales. I have no idea but I don’t really care what they’re profit is if it puts a bit more of my money back in my pocket. I have to say Thanks Wal Mart.
I went to a drugstore in a town with no Wartmart. The the price of the drug I needed was $67+. I drove 50 miles to a Walmart for the same $4 drug. Paid for gas, lunch and had money left over. Don’t tell me it’s not a deal111
There may be facts for people to argue against the $4 meds at WalMart. Bottomline though, MANY people DO use the drugs listed. These people obviously without insurance take generics anyways. Obviously MANY people are saving lots of money now, and that should be all that matters. If you have good insurance, or the money to buy exspensive meds- keep going to walgreens and be happy. The drugs available in different variations isnt a con either, they are also effecient- they come in different dosages which is necessary. If you look at the list these meds are very common meds used to treat the majority of the avg health issues. I have doctors in my family who treat uninsured patients- they keep a list of what walmart offers for 4 dollars on hand. Yes the patients do benefit from the meds even if they are generics, or even “older generics”. They still work. I personally was without insurance for a short period. I called walgreens to price my med, it was 13 dollars, i called a small local pharmacy it was 10 dollars. Went to walmart, got it for 4 bucks. I can only imagine how much money it has saved people so far who takes meds daily without insurance. Also, saying people will only turn right around and splurge their savings at walmart… so what. walgreens, rite aid- they all have things in them to spend money on. If you need your meds you can get them now reasonably, and hey if you have some money saved then good you can pick up a few things you needed from the store. better than not having the money to get anything.
My live-in was on brand name Rx meds. His insurance changed and his copays, even for generics, were insane!!! We went to the family dr. and changed the meds to similar generics on the $4 list. Now he will pay under $40 for 3mos of drugs vs. $200 for 3mos. He hasn’t had any side effects or changes in health. We came home from the pharmacy delighted.
I work for Osco Drug = and we price match with all other drug stores = aka: we price match $4 Walmart scripts. :)
I went to Walmart to fill cimetidine. The clerk said 4 dollars. I about fill over. 4 dollars I said..
Wal-Mart just charged my insurance the full amount for one of their 4.00 drugs, I found out because I asked to pay cash and was told it had been put through my insurance and I owed nothing, I still insisted on paying cash, after all it was only a 4.00 drug.I have to take four at a time to get the full dose, so this makes the presciption $16.00 Anyway , I was told it would be $124.00 cash and I asked why as it is on the $4.00 list ? The cashier looked it up , agreed and looked embarassed, then said they would have to send it back to the Pharmacist. Later, I paid the $16.00 dollars and told them to please refund the money to my insurance. Now, is this the norm , to charge the insurance the regular price? This is what was charged to my insurance..$124.00 for a $16.00 drug.
They say 4.00 till you get there. Then if it has one extra letter or anything they say no not your rx. They are liars.
I like goats. Can I get a prescription for baby goats at Walmart?
4.00 dollars is always better than 14.00. Walmart offers the drug i use for 4.00 tonite at Walgreens I paid 14.00 for it. I asked why they supossedly have a similar plan. Was told because it can be purchased over the counter. Walmart only gets 4.00 for it Walgreens uses any reason to rip off customers.