PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT: WAL-MART OFFERS 3-MONTH DRUG PRESCRIPTIONS FOR $10
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. expanded its drug offerings this month with three-month prescriptions for $10, stepping up the fight to attract US consumers seeking cheaper medicines amid economic woes. The program is an extension of their existing “$4 Prescription Programs” which offers a 30-day supply of these drugs. Wal-Mart's discount stores, Neighborhood Market supermarkets, and Sam's Club pharmacies are now filling prescriptions for as many as 350 generic drugs at $10 for a 90-day supply. Not all drugs eligible for $4 Program are eligible for the $10 Program. Certain plans, including government-funded programs, may not cover a 90-day supply. The company says that the list of eligible drugs in the $4 Prescriptions Program represents up to 95 percent of the prescriptions written in the majority of therapeutic categories.
Wal-Mart also has a $9/$24 program to which it has added some new women’s health medications to treat breast cancer, symptoms of menopause, and hormone deficiency. Particularly of interest is Tamoxifen.
$9/$24 WOMEN’S HEALTH EXAMPLE
For more information and drug listings see: www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=546834
Kmart, as well as Target, Walgreen, and CVS are also ramping up efforts to sell to the growing number of Americans who lack insurance to pay for medicines. Almost a third of Wal-Mart's nonprescription drugs now sell for $4 or less, luring people also shopping for groceries and clothes.--Adapted from “Wal-Mart offers 3-month drug prescriptions for $10” By Bloomberg News in the Boston Globe 5/6/08 and additional content from http://www.walmart.com/catalog/catalog.gsp?cat=546834.
05/08