Walmart expands their drug list

From John Bos, May 5, 2008

STRS Retirees can save more at Walmart than they can with their provider program. How about the STRS Staff. I don't think that can save from their Cadillac Plan.

Wal-Mart Expands $4 Generic Program

Posted by Sarah Rubenstein

Wal-Mart gets a lot of negative publicity, but one one story that draws plenty of positive coverage is its roster of $4-a-month generic drugs. And this morning the company said it’s expanding the cut-price drug program.

Here are the latest pharmaceutical bargains unveiled by the megaretailer:

• Prescriptions for up to 350 generic drugs will cost $10 for a 90-day supply.

• The generic version of Merck’s osteoporosis drug Fosamax, which came out earlier this year, will cost $9 for a 30-day supply or $24 for a $90-day supply. Generic drugs including tamoxifen for breast cancer and combo pill estrogen/methyltestosterone for menopause and hormone deficiency were added to a list of $9 women’s meds.

• A new $4 over-the-counter program will include Wal-Mart’s own versions of drugs including Zantac, Johnson & Johnson and Merck’s Pepcid and Schering-Plough’s Claritin, as well as women’s health products such as prenatal vitamins.

The first two programs are available in Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sam’s Club pharmacies, and the OTC part is in Wal-Mart and Neighborhood Market. Here’s a list of drugs in the $4 prescription program and here’s a fact sheet that Wal-Mart prepared for the media.

Wal-Mart, which has been wading deeper into the health-care waters lately, has been bragging a lot lately that its drug program is saving customers boatloads of cash at a time when health-care costs continue to climb. As of April 28, Wal-Mart’s tally of savings on generics is $1,163,726,502.08.