Wal-Mart to sell generic drugs for $4
blackredyellow
Posts: 5,889
This actually seems like a good move coming from wal mart....
Wal-Mart to sell generic drugs for $4
By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO, AP Business Writer1 hour, 45 minutes ago
Wal-Mart announced today that it will start a test program in Florida, where it will sell generic prescription drugs for $4 for a 30-day supply. The test will start tomorrow in 65 Tampa Bay-area stores and is to expand to the whole state by January.
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."
On average, generic drugs tend to cost between $10 and $30 for a month-long supply.
The world's biggest retailer said Thursday that it will test the program in Florida and it will include 291 generic drugs available for conditions from allergies to high-blood pressure. The plan is available to its employees and customers, including those without insurance.
Wal-Mart officials said the reduced price represents a savings to the customer of up to 70 percent on some drugs.
"Wal-Mart is taking this step so our customers and associates can get the medicines they need at a cost they can afford," Bill Simon, executive vice president of the company's professional services division, said in announcing the plan at a Tampa, Fla., store.
The program will be launched on Friday at 65 Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sams' Club pharmacies in the Tampa Bay area and will be expanded to the entire state in January.
Simon wouldn't be specific about why Florida and specifically the Tampa Bay area was chosen for the rollout of the initiative, saying only that there was a need for it here.
The company said it plans to expand the program to as many states as possible next year.
Simon said the 291 generic drugs include "the most commonly prescribed drugs for the some of the most common illnesses that face Americans today, including cardiac disease, asthma, diabetes, glaucoma, Parkinson's (disease) and thyroid conditions."
Simon wouldn't give details on how much the plan is expected to cost Wal-Mart or the company's dealings with the drug companies involved.
"We're able to do this by using one of our greatest strengths as a company — our business model and our ability to drive costs out of the system, and the model that passes those costs savings to our customers," he said. "In this case were applying that business model to health care."
The $4 prescriptions are not available by mail order and are being offered online only if picked up in person in the Tampa Bay area.
In a conference call with reporters, Simon said that the generic drugs would not be sold at a loss to entice customers into the stores, a strategy that has been used in Wal-Mart's toy business.
He said Wal-Mart is working with drugmakers to help them be more efficient, but added, "We are working with them as partners. We are not pressuring them to reduce prices."
Tampa Wal-Mart pharmacy customer Pat Sullivan praised the company's initiative. The retired Massachusetts police officer said $4 generic prescriptions are a tremendous help.
"I'm on disability and my benefits run out by the end of the month," he said. "It comes down to where do I go for a $100 prescription? I have no outlet other than to break a pill in half and take half today and half tomorrow."
The initiative is the fourth since last October that Wal-Mart has moved to improve health benefits.
Wal-Mart's recent moves included relaxing eligibility requirements for its part-time employees who want health insurance, and extending coverage for the first time to the children of those employees. Part-time employees, who had to work for Wal-Mart for two years to qualify, now have to work at the company for one year. This year, Wal-Mart also expanded a trial run of in-store clinics, aimed at providing lower cost non-emergency health care to the public.
Last October, Wal-Mart offered a new lower-premium insurance aimed at getting more of its work force on company plans.
But critics argue that Wal-Mart's coverage calls for a deductible that requires workers to pick up the first $1,000 in medical expenses, and the deductible rises to a maximum of $3,000 for families.
Union-backed Wake Up Wal-Mart, one of its most vociferous critics, have called upon Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart to offer better health care coverage and higher pay to employees.
Critics contend that the company's benefits are too stingy, forcing taxpayers to absorb more of the cost as the workers lacking coverage turn to state-funded health care programs.
This past summer, Wal-Mart won a successful fight against a first-of-its-kind state law that would have required the retailer to spend more on employee health care in Maryland. A federal judge ruled in July that it was invalid under federal law. But other states are considering similar legislation aimed at the company.
Its shares fell 17 cents to $48.70 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060921/ap_on_bi_ge/wal_mart_health_care;_ylt=AlIl3Dn9LY1gcyHL9fQzOn8DW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBhZDhxNDFzBHNlYwNtZW5ld3M-
Wal-Mart to sell generic drugs for $4
By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO, AP Business Writer1 hour, 45 minutes ago
Wal-Mart announced today that it will start a test program in Florida, where it will sell generic prescription drugs for $4 for a 30-day supply. The test will start tomorrow in 65 Tampa Bay-area stores and is to expand to the whole state by January.
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."
On average, generic drugs tend to cost between $10 and $30 for a month-long supply.
The world's biggest retailer said Thursday that it will test the program in Florida and it will include 291 generic drugs available for conditions from allergies to high-blood pressure. The plan is available to its employees and customers, including those without insurance.
Wal-Mart officials said the reduced price represents a savings to the customer of up to 70 percent on some drugs.
"Wal-Mart is taking this step so our customers and associates can get the medicines they need at a cost they can afford," Bill Simon, executive vice president of the company's professional services division, said in announcing the plan at a Tampa, Fla., store.
The program will be launched on Friday at 65 Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sams' Club pharmacies in the Tampa Bay area and will be expanded to the entire state in January.
Simon wouldn't be specific about why Florida and specifically the Tampa Bay area was chosen for the rollout of the initiative, saying only that there was a need for it here.
The company said it plans to expand the program to as many states as possible next year.
Simon said the 291 generic drugs include "the most commonly prescribed drugs for the some of the most common illnesses that face Americans today, including cardiac disease, asthma, diabetes, glaucoma, Parkinson's (disease) and thyroid conditions."
Simon wouldn't give details on how much the plan is expected to cost Wal-Mart or the company's dealings with the drug companies involved.
"We're able to do this by using one of our greatest strengths as a company — our business model and our ability to drive costs out of the system, and the model that passes those costs savings to our customers," he said. "In this case were applying that business model to health care."
The $4 prescriptions are not available by mail order and are being offered online only if picked up in person in the Tampa Bay area.
In a conference call with reporters, Simon said that the generic drugs would not be sold at a loss to entice customers into the stores, a strategy that has been used in Wal-Mart's toy business.
He said Wal-Mart is working with drugmakers to help them be more efficient, but added, "We are working with them as partners. We are not pressuring them to reduce prices."
Tampa Wal-Mart pharmacy customer Pat Sullivan praised the company's initiative. The retired Massachusetts police officer said $4 generic prescriptions are a tremendous help.
"I'm on disability and my benefits run out by the end of the month," he said. "It comes down to where do I go for a $100 prescription? I have no outlet other than to break a pill in half and take half today and half tomorrow."
The initiative is the fourth since last October that Wal-Mart has moved to improve health benefits.
Wal-Mart's recent moves included relaxing eligibility requirements for its part-time employees who want health insurance, and extending coverage for the first time to the children of those employees. Part-time employees, who had to work for Wal-Mart for two years to qualify, now have to work at the company for one year. This year, Wal-Mart also expanded a trial run of in-store clinics, aimed at providing lower cost non-emergency health care to the public.
Last October, Wal-Mart offered a new lower-premium insurance aimed at getting more of its work force on company plans.
But critics argue that Wal-Mart's coverage calls for a deductible that requires workers to pick up the first $1,000 in medical expenses, and the deductible rises to a maximum of $3,000 for families.
Union-backed Wake Up Wal-Mart, one of its most vociferous critics, have called upon Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart to offer better health care coverage and higher pay to employees.
Critics contend that the company's benefits are too stingy, forcing taxpayers to absorb more of the cost as the workers lacking coverage turn to state-funded health care programs.
This past summer, Wal-Mart won a successful fight against a first-of-its-kind state law that would have required the retailer to spend more on employee health care in Maryland. A federal judge ruled in July that it was invalid under federal law. But other states are considering similar legislation aimed at the company.
Its shares fell 17 cents to $48.70 in morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060921/ap_on_bi_ge/wal_mart_health_care;_ylt=AlIl3Dn9LY1gcyHL9fQzOn8DW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTBhZDhxNDFzBHNlYwNtZW5ld3M-
My whole life
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
Still no reason to shop there though
If I were well-off and could spend my money willy-nilly, I wouldn't shop there, either. I don't like being linked with that class of people.
Sorry for any misunderstanding. The reasons I don't shop at Wal-Mart has nothing to do with the people who shop there. I just don't like their stores and prefer the alternatives.
I completely support your choice to spend your money at Wal-Mart, for whatever reason, even if I don't share that choice!
None near you? Damn.. the last few places that I've lived in, I could throw a rock and hit 2 or 3 of them.
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
Ok...cool.
I've heard that WalMart is starting to recongnize this fact and is going to start diversifying their stores a bit. I think a lot of people are turned off by the WalMart environment and they're looking for ways to address that.
2005: Kitchener/Hamilton/Toronto
2006: Toronto 1 & 2
2008: Hartford/EV Toronto 1 & 2
2009: Toronto/Philadelphia 3 & 4
2010: Buffalo
2011: Montreal/Toronto 1 & 2/Hamilton
2013: London/Buffalo/Vancouver/Seattle
2016: Toronto 1 & 2
2022: Hamilton/Toronto
2023: EV Seattle 1&2
walmart just overwhelms me. the super walmarts or whatever they're called. first of all i don't want to buy hunting gear the same place i can buy food. seems weird to me. i mean, save a couple steps. skip the gun and hunting and go straight to the meat counter and buy your dinner. and that place is just too big. you can't find anything. or you go in at the wrong entrance and you walk 1/4 mile to get to what you need.
I think it's good exercise. In fact, I usually park farther away on purpose. Furthermore, it's good for the environment that people can buy at one place and do not have to drive all over town to get various things.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
i never thought about it that way (good for the environment). good point.
and i get that it's good exercise, but it's still annoying
:rolleyes:
you can thank the unions for that.
As for the $4 drugs, good for Wal-Mart! I still won't shop there, but I'm glad this will be available to people who need it.
I wonder if they're going to lose money on this? Obviously they think they'll come out ahead overall, just by getting people in the stores to make other purchases, but it's possible they might lose money on the drugs themselves. If so, I might start going there just for generic drugs
I doubt they will lose money, just make less. They will make theirs through smaller mark-ups and larger volume.
That should keep many poor Americans able to afford some of their medications. My sister would have been alive today if her medications would have been affordable.
Tampa Bay area...great news!
High Traffic ART EZI FTJ JSR KPA PCD SYN ULX VLB YHF
Low Traffic CIO MIW
Non Traffic ABC BAY FDU GBZ HNC NDP OEM ROV TMS ZWL
One person's wal-mart is another person's moving train
But I agree, Target sells the same shit, for the same price, but for some reason, people's weight seem to approximate the mean much more than wal-mart.
And I try to make this kind and clear
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
Cuz I don't need boxes wrapped in strings
And desire and love and empty things
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days
ZING!
ALWAYS LOW PRICES, ALWAYS!
Plus who really gives a rats fat ass whether they work illegal immigrants...nobody is doing anything to send em back (personally I'm all for ellian gonzalas type raids in the middle of the night to ship em all back south, but until then) ...might as well get some work out of em for $3 an hour... so I can keep buying my milk for $1.50 a gallon!
Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!
- Benjamin Franklin
If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went.
-Will Rogers
_____________________
Who makes the drugs that are going to be used on the Walmart generation. How do you know what is in any drug you take unless you are a chemist?
Massive drug trials on an unknowing population... What happens to the drugs prices and when Walmart is the only distributer?
Welcome to the United States of Walmart inc.
Coming soon... Walmartopia... the 3rd planet from the sun.
There's no way to stop it though. Just having awareness of what is going on.
And it's not the union's fault. It was going to happen anyway.
The nice thing about variety is our ability to choose. For those that choose this road, I wont knock it, I just wont try it. It's self-determination. There are so many things that you can get naturally to alleviate diseases and symptoms. When people forget about herbs, roots and plants natural healing powers, what happens if the drug system breaks down? he drug compaies want us to forget what we have the potential to do for ourselves so that we will be utterly dependant on them for our every need. It seems to me that when you cant find something you want at one store, you go to another. As more businesses crumble in because they can't compete with Walmarts and Targets, what happens when we only have the choice between the two? Will you take the red pill, or the blue pill? We are slowly loosing our ability to choose.
Peace
This is your best "quippy" post ever. For me anyway, because it is my very thought.
Most wal-mart threads turn into either the political, or (as in this case) personal feelings on Wal-Mart. But this drug thing is interesting.
What am I to do indeed? I hate Wal-Mart, for some of the "parellel universe" reasons today, becasue I am anti-sprawl (though that is all "big box" stores), because of the way they treat their employees and because of the "nothing made in America" affect that it has on the working class--the very people they are supposed to be saving.
I know a few of you people talk about how we are over-medicated--but as someone with asthma and acid reflux, my perscriptions are litterally life savers. And the cost of medication is getting out of hand. If this will bring the price down, it has to be a positive, I would think (even though some of Wal-Mart's price lowering literrally costs us decent blue collar jobs).
I still won't be going to Wal-Mart, but as a professional person, it is a luxury I have. Somone who can barely affort to eat and get their meds will benefit from this.
This will knock my anti-wal-mart-itis down a peg--from 11 to 10