May 12, 2008
Wal-Mart extends its drug discounts
90-day supplies offered for $10
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, announced yesterday that it would expand its discounted prescription drug program to offer 90-day supplies for $10 and add several women's medications at a discount. It also said it would lower the price of more than 1,000 over-the-counter drugs.
The move marks the third phase of a company program that began in 2006 to provide a 30-day supply of generic prescription drugs for $4. The Bentonville-based company said the program has saved customers more than $1 billion.
With the expansion, the company began filling prescriptions yesterday for up to 350 generic medications at $10 for a 90-day supply at Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sam's Club pharmacies in the United States.
Almost all the prescription generics in the company's $4 program were included in the expanded $10 offer, said Wal-Mart senior vice president John Agwunobi.
Women's medications
In addition, the company will add several women's medications to its list of prescriptions available for $9, including drugs to treat breast cancer and hormone deficiency.For instance, alendronate, the generic version of osteoporosis medication Fosamax, will be added to the list. Company pharmacies will fill 30-day prescriptions of alendronate for $9 and a 90-day supply for $24 at a comparison of $54 and $102, respectively, that women previously paid for the same amounts, the company said.
Tamoxifen, used to treat breast cancer, will be offered for $9 for a 30-day supply, as well as combination estrogen/methyltestosterone tablets, prescribed for menopause and hormone deficiency.
Wal-Mart also will lower the prices of more than 1,000 over-the-counter medications to $4 or less in its pharmacies, company officials said. The company has sold over-the-counter medicines in the past at discounted prices, but revised and expanded its offerings specifically to include commonly used drugs that usually sell for $7 or more, said company spokesman Deisha Galberth.
Others respond
Kmart, the discount chain owned by Sears Holdings Corp., Walgreen Co. and CVS Caremark Corp. also are ratcheting up efforts to sell to the growing number of Americans who lack insurance to pay for medicines and health care.Almost a third of Wal-Mart's non-prescription drugs now sell for $4 or less, helping lure people also shopping for groceries and clothing.
Since 2006, Wal-Mart's $4 generic drug program has expanded to every state, except North Dakota, where Wal-Mart has no in-store pharmacies. And many company competitors have followed the retailer's lead.
While stressing that the expansion was designed to help customers at a time of exorbitant health-care costs and difficult economic times, Agwunobi said the program has worked in everyone's favor.
"This is the time for us now to begin building capacity," he said. "It offers [customers'] employers potential savings. It offers the customers significant savings. It also offers us the ability to add capacity to our pharmacies without adding people."
The Associated Press and Bloomberg News contributed to this article.
Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun
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