Posted on 09/21/2006 7:11:01 AM PDT by laissez- faire
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday that it will sell nearly 300 generic drugs at $4 a prescription beginning in Florida this week and spreading to as many states "as possible" next year. The program will be available to insured and uninsured consumers, a move that also will help stem criticism of Wal-Mart's employee health-care policies. The program, announced in Florida, will begin at 65 Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and Neighborhood Market stores in Tampa Bay. All other stores in Florida will be offering the program in January, the company said. Wal-Mart said the program also will fill the gap of coverage senior citizens now have with the Medicare Part D prescription drug plans that leaves them paying for 100 percent of many prescriptions. In Florida, for example, Wal-Mart said the program will help nearly 2.7 million uninsured Floridians -- many of them retirees -- who may avoid filling prescriptions. The company estimates the program will save that state hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in Medicaid costs. At this time, the $4 prescriptions are only available online for in-person pickup in the Tampa Bay, Fla. Not all generics in each therapeutic category are included. It's unclear how Wal-Mart is getting the drugs and if it's in a partnership with specific drug makers. A teleconference is scheduled for later this morning. Jennifer Waters is a reporter for MarketWatch based in Chicago.
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
It already has. How about:
Wal-Mart to Offer Affordable Prescription Drugs.
Here's my guess. The $4 drugs are being out-sourced to be manufactured by slave labor in Indonesia.
right in step with all of the other junk in their stores
WalMart: Cheap Rx...BAD!!
Where the factories sit on land that was old growth rainforest that was clear cut by children.
I repeat laissez- faire's question:
I wonder how this will be "spun" to be bad for consumers...
Hmmm, how about that? You mean a private business may be able to do a service cheaper than the government? Shocker!
Easy--No oversight or control by our benevolent Federal government.
" it will sell nearly 300 generic drugs at $4 a prescription beginning in Florida this week and spreading to as many states "as possible" next year. The program will be available to insured and uninsured consumers,"
The bastards, when will these horrors ever end.
I have a bunch of Walgreen stock, and it's down 3 points a share right now! Crap.
this may be the the start of the opening of a cloud with a silver lining, as the free-market response to Medicare Part D.
Unfortunately, this will hurt the drug stores because generic drugs historically have had a higher profit margin than branded drugs.
that's goin to leave a mark...eh libs?
"nooooooo thank you. If it's anywhere like where they get the other junk they sell, we'll pass."
Yep. Like Belize. There are certainly fake generic drugs out there, people just don't realize it.
http://www.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2006/09/18/daily17.html
Wal-Mart screwing the poor again!
Wal-Mart is a business predator. So, they are going after the CVS, Walgreen pharmacies.
How?
Predatory pricing. They aren't getting these drugs from drg manufactureres that cheaply. They are selling them at a loss in order to take the customers away from the pharmacy stores and drive them out of business.
Yeah, good for the consumer. In about 3 years, there will be no pharmacies open except for Wal-Mart.
This will drive the libs wild. It will be interesting how the libs will spin this as bad... LOL!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.