Wally World begins $4 a pop Rx earlier than planned/Target follows -- who'll be next?
Chains will sell generic drugs for $4
Mark Chediak
Sentinel Staff Writer
October 6, 2006
The country's two largest discount chains, Wal-Mart Stores and Target, cut the price on scores of generic drugs throughout Florida today in a competition that's likely to spread across much of the nation by year's end.
Wal-Mart executives, during a news conference at one of their Orlando supercenters, said the company decided to speed up the statewide expansion of a pilot program in Tampa that offers a month's supply of certain generic drugs for $4.
They said the move was prompted by customers' response to the test program and by requests from Florida officials, including Gov. Jeb Bush, who attended Thursday's event in east Orlando.
When Wal-Mart launched its pilot in the Tampa area two weeks ago, it had said the program would be extended statewide in January.
Target, which matched Wal-Mart's prices in the Tampa market, said Thursday that it would do the same across Florida starting today.
Wal-Mart also touted an expansion of the $4 program's drug list, which grew from 291 to 314 generic-prescription types, or about 143 separate medicines. But critics accused it of exaggerating the scope of its offer.
A group representing more than 24,000 community-based pharmacies said the giant retailer's generic-drug list covers only a fraction of the medicines on the market and includes many older, less-popular drugs.
"If you look at the list of medications they are offering for $4, it represents about 1 percent of the total number of drugs available," said Bruce Roberts, chief executive of the National Community Pharmacists Association. "The question people should be asking Wal-Mart is, 'What will you be charging for the other 99 percent of the medications that people need?' "
Bill Simon, executive vice president of Wal-Mart's professional-services division, said the drugs now on the discount list constitute about 30 percent of all of the prescriptions filled in the company's 235 Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sam's Club pharmacies in Florida.
"We will continue to look at opportunities to expand that list," Simon said.
Wal-Mart also said it plans to introduce the discount program in other states by the end of November.
CVS and Walgreen Co., two of the country's largest drugstore chains, said they don't plan to match Wal-Mart's generic prices in Florida or elsewhere. They said many of their customers covered by health plans already pay comparable or even lower prices for the same drugs.
"For our patients with insurance, their out-of-pocket costs are very close to or in some cases lower than Wal-Mart's $4 plan," said Michael Polzin, a Walgreen spokesman.
Industry experts said generic-drug discounts will most benefit the uninsured, who in Florida number an estimated 2.7 million.
"I think it will be a great advantage for those who don't have a prescription plan, or [a] sub-optimal prescription plan," said Paul Doering, co-director of the University of Florida's Drug Information and Pharmacy Resource Center.
Doering said the customer co-payment for a generic prescription is still more than $4 under many health plans.
Randy and Verona Henderson, who were shopping at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on East Colonial Drive shortly after Thursday's news conference, said they plan to take advantage of the discount-price plan because they lack health insurance.
Verona Henderson, 50, said it should save her about $75 a month on her diabetes medication alone.
"It's a very, very good deal for me, let me tell you," she said.
Lonnie and Brenda Johnson, who watched the Orlando news conference, said they could get the majority of their generic drugs more cheaply using their health-care insurance.
"This would help only if any of the medicines are not covered on our plan," said Brenda Johnson, 66.
Bush, who appeared alongside Wal-Mart executives, praised the Arkansas-based company as a good corporate citizen and said the $4 program would save Florida residents hundreds of millions of dollars.
"This is a provocative, bold decision," the governor said.
Wal-Mart critics, including the union-backed Wake Up Wal-Mart, scoffed at the governor's remarks, noting that his administration had helped Wal-Mart qualify for millions of dollars in state tax breaks. Bush has said that the tax breaks were given to companies moving to Florida that paid more than the average local wage.
According to Wake Up Wal-Mart, which has been critical of the company's health-care benefits, among other things, more than 12,000 of Wal-Mart's Florida workers are on publicly funded health-care assistance, at a cost to the state of an estimated $60 million a year.
Wal-Mart recently expanded its health-care coverage to include more of its part-time workers.
Mark Chediak can be reached at mchediak@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5240.
October 6, 2006
The country's two largest discount chains, Wal-Mart Stores and Target, cut the price on scores of generic drugs throughout Florida today in a competition that's likely to spread across much of the nation by year's end.
Wal-Mart executives, during a news conference at one of their Orlando supercenters, said the company decided to speed up the statewide expansion of a pilot program in Tampa that offers a month's supply of certain generic drugs for $4.
They said the move was prompted by customers' response to the test program and by requests from Florida officials, including Gov. Jeb Bush, who attended Thursday's event in east Orlando.
When Wal-Mart launched its pilot in the Tampa area two weeks ago, it had said the program would be extended statewide in January.
Target, which matched Wal-Mart's prices in the Tampa market, said Thursday that it would do the same across Florida starting today.
Wal-Mart also touted an expansion of the $4 program's drug list, which grew from 291 to 314 generic-prescription types, or about 143 separate medicines. But critics accused it of exaggerating the scope of its offer.
A group representing more than 24,000 community-based pharmacies said the giant retailer's generic-drug list covers only a fraction of the medicines on the market and includes many older, less-popular drugs.
"If you look at the list of medications they are offering for $4, it represents about 1 percent of the total number of drugs available," said Bruce Roberts, chief executive of the National Community Pharmacists Association. "The question people should be asking Wal-Mart is, 'What will you be charging for the other 99 percent of the medications that people need?' "
Bill Simon, executive vice president of Wal-Mart's professional-services division, said the drugs now on the discount list constitute about 30 percent of all of the prescriptions filled in the company's 235 Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sam's Club pharmacies in Florida.
"We will continue to look at opportunities to expand that list," Simon said.
Wal-Mart also said it plans to introduce the discount program in other states by the end of November.
CVS and Walgreen Co., two of the country's largest drugstore chains, said they don't plan to match Wal-Mart's generic prices in Florida or elsewhere. They said many of their customers covered by health plans already pay comparable or even lower prices for the same drugs.
"For our patients with insurance, their out-of-pocket costs are very close to or in some cases lower than Wal-Mart's $4 plan," said Michael Polzin, a Walgreen spokesman.
Industry experts said generic-drug discounts will most benefit the uninsured, who in Florida number an estimated 2.7 million.
"I think it will be a great advantage for those who don't have a prescription plan, or [a] sub-optimal prescription plan," said Paul Doering, co-director of the University of Florida's Drug Information and Pharmacy Resource Center.
Doering said the customer co-payment for a generic prescription is still more than $4 under many health plans.
Randy and Verona Henderson, who were shopping at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on East Colonial Drive shortly after Thursday's news conference, said they plan to take advantage of the discount-price plan because they lack health insurance.
Verona Henderson, 50, said it should save her about $75 a month on her diabetes medication alone.
"It's a very, very good deal for me, let me tell you," she said.
Lonnie and Brenda Johnson, who watched the Orlando news conference, said they could get the majority of their generic drugs more cheaply using their health-care insurance.
"This would help only if any of the medicines are not covered on our plan," said Brenda Johnson, 66.
Bush, who appeared alongside Wal-Mart executives, praised the Arkansas-based company as a good corporate citizen and said the $4 program would save Florida residents hundreds of millions of dollars.
"This is a provocative, bold decision," the governor said.
Wal-Mart critics, including the union-backed Wake Up Wal-Mart, scoffed at the governor's remarks, noting that his administration had helped Wal-Mart qualify for millions of dollars in state tax breaks. Bush has said that the tax breaks were given to companies moving to Florida that paid more than the average local wage.
According to Wake Up Wal-Mart, which has been critical of the company's health-care benefits, among other things, more than 12,000 of Wal-Mart's Florida workers are on publicly funded health-care assistance, at a cost to the state of an estimated $60 million a year.
Wal-Mart recently expanded its health-care coverage to include more of its part-time workers.
Mark Chediak can be reached at mchediak@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5240.
posted by Kathie Bracy at 11:23 AM
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