Walmart/Meijer Drug Price War
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Posted by Maryan Pelland Nov 7, 2006 |
No matter where you stand on the allegations that Walmart doesn't treat employees or vendors fairly, their new campaign to offer popular prescriptions at $4 per monthly supply has to get your attention.
The program began in Florida early this fall, and now, with the discount stores called Meijer (located in Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky) offering free popular antibiotics (Amoxicillin, Cephalexin, Ciprofloxacin, Penicillin VK, Ampicillin, Erythromycin and Bactrim) to consumers, Walmart has upped their rollout schedule from 2007 to right now.
Walmart expanded the $4 pricing in Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, Alabama, Georgia, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakot and Vermont. The drugs included are popular generics. You can get the list here.
A Washington Post article says lovastatin, paroxetine, levothyroxine and megestrol were added to the list recently. The Post quotes sources who claim the Walmart program is an "attempt to gain maximum public relations value while providing minimum value to patients." The complaint heard most often from powers that be is that the drugs on the list are severl generaitons old and have been replaced by newer, more effective versions.
My point of view:
Talk to your doctor - if he or she thinks the right drug for you is on the list, you win. At least for the moment. I don't trust retailers to have our best interests at heart. Call me a cynic, but at a time when this major retailer is being machine-gunned with criticism and allegations, PR is likely their main priority, not your well-being. But I've been wrong before.
MORE:
Low priced drugs, but substandard employee insurance