CNNMoney: Generic drugs getting cheaper at Wal-Mart

[DeepModem Mom]

Generic drugs getting cheaper at Wal-Mart
Discounter testing a program in Florida to sell nearly 300 drugs for as low as $4 per standard prescription.
By Parija B. Kavilanz, CNNMoney.com staff writer
September 21 2006

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Wal-Mart announced Thursday that it is testing a program in Florida to sell about 300 generic prescription drugs for as low as $4 for a 30-day supply.

The world's largest retailer said the program, to be launched on Friday, will be available to customers and employees of 65 Wal-Mart stores, Wal-Mart neighborhood market stores and Sam's Club pharmacies in the Tampa Bay, Fla., area, and will be expanded to the entire state in January 2007.

The $4 pricing will be available to all pharmacy customers with a doctor's prescription that can be filled with a covered generic medicine, the retailer said.

This program will be available to the uninsured, although insurance will be accepted. It will cover 291 generic medications from many of the most common therapeutic categories, the company said.

The medicines covered by the new plan include those used to treat and manage conditions including allergies, cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes. Some antibiotics, antidepressants, antipsychotics and prescription vitamins are also included....

http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/21/news/companies/walmart_drugs/index.htm?cnn=yes

[Carni]

1. Just in time for the selections I see...

They have pretty much every angle covered don't they?

Gas goes down in price...now drugs will be more affordable--guess we better enjoy the next month because these are all ploys by the repukes and it will be right back to normal under bushit after the so called elections.

[Giant Robot]

2. Not sure what to make of this

In my heart I know Wal Mart is evil....but this could be so beneficial to so many people.

On a side note, if Wal Mart can do this, why can't the government do something more effective than Medicare Part D??

[Warpy]

3. I have had to get my scrips there

I've been uninsurable since 1987 and I've been desperately poor for the last 3 years. Their pharmacy is a service and one area where bargaining down the price with producers has had a beneficial effect, although a lot of brand name drug production is being offshored. That's due to Big Pill's greed, not WalMart's pernicious influence.

I don't like their business practices, I think they're largely predatory. However, when something is as horribly overpriced as medications are, they have provided a real service to a lot of people by knocking those prices down.

[merwin]

22. They've been selling insulin for like $15 cheaper than everywhere else

for a fairly long while now. It's a lifesaver for those without insurance who can't pay $37.99 for a vile of insulin that won't last more than a week or two.

[Joe Bacon]

36. The Pill Bill FORBIDS Medicare from negoitiating lower prices

That little poison pill is De Lay's legacy. The VA CAN bargain for lower prices, but Medicare CAN'T.

Nice to see that Whore Mart can do something Medicare can't.

[Mister K]

4. I see this and Walmart as a double edged sword

Yes, Walmart's practices do drive the mom and pop stores and the like out of business however they are allowing people without much income to purchase basic necessities at cheap prices.

Where else can you buy your kids clothes for under $5? Now they are making drugs more affordable in an area where there are a lot of people on fixed incomes and may not have insurance to cover their required medications. I can't see this being a bad thing except for the small pharmacies who may not be able to compete here and it will require CVS and the like to lower their prices as well.

[Omaha Steve]

5. Where can an American get a good job when products like

the cheap kids clothes come from China? Not everybody can work at Walmart, and that day may be fast approaching.

But if Walmart wants to loose money on drugs, I don't care. I just hope people don't get anything else while they are there for Rx's. That is just what Walmart wants.

[plasticsundance]

6. Wal-Mart cuts generic drug prices to $4 in Florida

TAMPA, Florida (Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on Thursday it would slash prices on nearly 300 generic prescription drugs to $4 in the Tampa, Florida, area and expand the plan across Florida and other states next year.

The world's largest retailer, which has been hit with accusations that it provides inadequate health care for more than a million U.S. employees, said the program would be available to customers and associates of 65 Wal-Mart pharmacies in the Tampa Bay, Florida, area starting on Friday.

The plan will then be rolled out to the rest of Florida, home to many retirees on limited incomes, in January, and to as many states as possible next year.

"It's a big market where there is a need," Bill Simon, executive vice president of the Professional Services Division for Wal-Mart, said of the Tampa area, home to many senior citizens and people without health insurance.

more ...

[Not Me]

7. Perhaps now their employees can afford to buy prescriptions

Seriously, on the face of it, this appears to be a pretty bold move which will likely force their competitors to match.
The potentially good thing is that it may force a shift from specific to generic which is led by consumers. Most doctors will write a generic, but it often takes a direct request (demand) by the patient.

This is not good news for the drug companies.

[Singular73]

8. POOOOOOR drug companies

BOHOO HOO.

Screw em.

[Indy_Dem_Defender]

26. I don't feel bad for the drug companies

But I do feel bad for the employees, Like in Indianapolis Lilly the drug company is one of the biggest employers in town and probably the best paying one as well. I would hate to see severe downsizing by lilly as a result of this because, the local economy would take a really major hit if say 5000 people where let go or laid off. It's not just lilly employees who would lose their job either a lot of work such as security, maintenance, Shipping, production and construction is subcontracted out. I have an uncle and aunt who both work at lilly through another company, they would lose everything their house and cars if something like this happened.

[Singular73]

27. Heh, I don't care.

Just as much as I don't care how many people are out of work if Halliburton have to close their doors.

Screw em.

Its everything thats wrong with capitalism in this democracy.

[plasticsundance]

9. It's not good news for companies like Wal Green

It will do nothing to the drug companies. They own the patents. It's Walgreens, CVS, and Eckards that will hurt the most, and it might force them to layoff people. Selling at deflated prices will hurt our economy, and I don't think it wise to let Wal Mart take the place of a national health care system that is sorely needed in the US.

[merwin]

23. This is something that is needed though. Walgreens is large enough

that they can afford to bargain with the drug companies for lower prices... they just don't

[Show_Me _The_Truth]

29. Can also ask the pharmacist

to fill with a generic.

The only thing I would be careful of generics on is any sort of a psychotropic.

[FooFootheSnoo]

10. It will hurt pharmacies like Eckerds, CVS, etc.

I don't see it hurting the "mom and pop" type pharmacies much. Those pharmacies have a lot more services to offer than the chain type pharmacies. One of our mom and pop type pharmacies here has an orthotics and adaptive equipment department and in addition to that they carry a lot of over the counter creams, lotions, etc. that are very obscure and hard to find. Most mom and pop pharmacies that I've been in are like that. In Florida to mix certain types of medications the pharmacy has to have a compounding liscence and WalMart, CVS, Eckerds, etc. do not have that. I do see a lot of pharmacists losing their jobs.
It will help a lot of people. In the last month I have spent $80 on my daughter's pink eye and sinus infection. We have insurance, so I can't imagine what it would have cost if we did not.

[Bombero1956]

11. where are they getting them

Canada? I wouldn't fill a prescription for any drug at Wally World, they pay their people crap and the last thing I want is a pissed off druggist giving me the wrong pills.

[NoodleyAppendage]

12. Just in time for Walmart's get out the vote effort. No pissed off seniors

This is nothing short of a ploy to prop up Walmart's reputation, while simultaneously improving the moods of seniors who are most likely to vote in an off-year election.

CORPORATIONS OWN OUR DEMOCRACY (if you can't even continue to call it a "democracy").

J

[951-Riverside]

13. Walmart To Offer Generic Drugs for $4

http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:rFg2CEdo-ZcnrM:

Sep. 21 - Wal-Mart says it will begin selling nearly 300 generic drugs for four dollars a prescription covering up to a 30-day supply, first in Florida.
The program will begin tomorrow in the Tampa Bay, Florida area. Plans call for expansion to the entire state of Florida early next year. Wal-Mart says it intends to expand further afterward.

The announcement is being made at news conference in Florida this morning.

In a statement, CEO Lee Scott says the world's largest retailer intends to "take the program to as many states as possible next year".

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=business&id=4585462

[blueknight]

14. this just shows,

how bad wal-mart wants the neocons re-elected

[eallen]

16. Say, what?! It is a typical example of their long-time business strategy.

That's like saying the sun is continue to rise in the east, because it wants Bush reelected. Walmart does what it does because it has figured out a very profitable and significant business niche. It will continue to mine that opportunity, come Republican or Democratic president.

[Deja Q]

17. If government won't put in price caps,

what's wrong with a big bully business doing their work for them indirectly?

I'd rather see some common sense by the government, or corporations not gouging Americans as they give sweet deals to people in every other country of course -- but walmart's filling a badly needed void and people are going to take it. If they can tear away at big pharma, so much the better. They're all sharp-toothed dogs in the end.


But I don't see how walmart doing this will help any of the elected folks...

[gulfcoastliberal]

15. When I lost my health ins. in California, Longs had similar prices, even

cheaper if you ordered your prescription from their online pharmacy.

[sadiesworld]

18. One of the twerps on Faux said something about it being

part of Wal-Mart's "get out the vote campaign" or somesuch, did anyone else catch this? It was sometime this afternoon (sorry I can't be more specific, I just caught the tail-end of it while channel surfing).

[bamacrat]

19. Why is Wal-Mart doing more toward fixing our healthcare crisis

than our own government is?

[SeattleGirl]

32. Not having insurance at this time, I need to find a better place

to get my prescriptions filled. One of them, a generic, costs $98 for a 30 day supply. Another one, also generic, costs $75 for a 30 day supply. I have to have these meds. I hate WalMart, but if they are going to start making it possible for uninsured and under-insured people to get the meds they need, then good for them.

Living here in Seattle, of course, I will not benefit from their new plan at this time, so I'll have to do some research and see if I can find a place to get my prescriptions filled at a lower price.

You know, as much as WalMart's business practices suck, I think the thing that is even worse is the highway robbery perpetrated upon the American people by the drug companies. It's their fucking greed that is the biggest problem. Profits over the health of the people of this country is unconscionable.

[Nikia]

20. My new local pharmacy is cheaper than Walmart

In my previous area, I had gotten Walmart prescriptions because the local doctor's group seemed to prefer it and it was the closest pharmacy to me. I had insurance but always paid attention to the actual price. When I took a new job and moved to my new town, I was without insurance and decided to try the family owned pharmacy down the street. Being without insurance, I was pleasantly suprised to find their prescriptions were about 30% lower (at least for the one's that I take. The cheaper medication was $4 for a month's supply.

[madrchsod]

21. check where they are made....

i bet it`s india

oh, yes they are out to crush walgreens. walgreens and costco return more dollars per sq foot than sam`s club or walmart.

[RawMaterials]

24. walmart -- the usa's universal health care plan

brought to you buy cheap labor all over the world.
I now know what stock i should buy wmt, amerika will succumb to
what the people need they will just do what cap soc wants.

[VegasWolf]

25. This is good for people on fixed income I guess. nt

[barb162]

31. It's good for all the millions of uninsured and poor I think

I won't knock it

[krispos42]

28. CNN reports Target following suit

just saw it on CNN, but can't find a story on CNN.com or Target.com.

Is it just me, or does CNN's search engine suck like a Hoover?

[queenjane]

30. Mom-and-Pops can be good OR bad

We've had Walmart for years, and while I loathe them on general principle (plus, I worked for them many years ago--the stories I could tell you ...)their local pharmacists are wonderful and have been very kind and patient with my elderly mother, stepping her through the Med D plan and trying to save her $$$ wherever possible. The locally-owned CVS drugstore, however, is owned and operated by an arrogant ass pharmacist who refused to fill a pain med prescription for her (for a spinal fracture)because he "doubted" it would be covered by workman's comp (which it was)and yelled at me that I was "cheating" the system. In front of a store full of people. Natch, I never frequented that place again.

We're also about to get a Lowe's Home Improvement. Again, in general I'm no fan of big box stores, but I'm salivating over this. Our locally-owned lumberyard/home repair supplier closes at NOON on SATURDAY. You know, when most homeowners like myself are trying to do chores and actually need stuff!!! Plus, they acted like it was a gross waste of their time to deal with anyone who wasn't a big construction contractor. The local plumbing and electrical supply places are basically the same. I'm a little tired of hauling giant bags of soil, plyboard, etc., home from 30 miles away.

Ergo, the prospect of being able to buy things I need for my home during the weekend, when I need them, helps me overlook the "genericization" of America. I think drug price cuts, regardless of motive, are wonderful for the poor, elderly, and disabled. Besides, I work in drug R&D, so anything that sticks it to Big Pharma makes me a happy girl.

[SoCalDem]

33. In ONE city.. n/t

[Kolesar]

34. NPR has been giving Walmart free publicity on this

This is hardly a story that needs repeated playing

[wickerwoman]

35. Hope they aren't importing them from China...

A friend of mine recently had a stroke from a bad batch of anti-diarrhea medicine that was prescribed by his doctor and that he picked up from a state pharmacy. :-(