Wal-Mart will begin selling some prescription drugs for $4 today, a move that could cheer consumers but has generated charges of predatory pricing among some small pharmacies.
Wal-Mart’s 67 pharmacies in Colorado are participating in the program, which makes 143 generic drugs available. When various dosages and pill sizes are factored in, a total of 331 generic prescriptions are available in 30-day quantities.
The plan includes 14 of the top 20 medications prescribed in the United States, according to Wal-Mart. The discounted list includes popular drugs such as the antibiotic amoxicillin, the antidepressant trazodone and the asthma medication albuterol.
Kmart and Target also have generic- drug programs. Target last week began selling $4 generic drugs in its stores nationwide. Kmart offers a 90-day supply of selected drugs for $15 as part of a plan that began in May.
Wal-Mart kicked off its discount program in Florida in September, with initial plans to spread outside the state in January. However, Wal-Mart has added additional states since then and today adds the final 11 states, making it available throughout Wal-Mart’s 3,810 pharmacies nationwide.
“As of right now, I am spending about $2,200 (a year) on co-pays,” said Dave Boswell, 46, who was picking up a prescription Monday at the Wal-Mart on Quebec Street in Denver.
Boswell usually doesn’t buy drugs at Wal-Mart but said some of the drugs he gets are generic and that he would consider buying them at Wal-Mart if it would save him money.
Right now, Boswell uses a mail-order plan for most of his prescriptions.
“A concern I have is if they’re getting it that cheap, where are they getting it?” he said.
Wal-Mart officials have said that drugs on the list are those the company was able to get at lower prices from suppliers.
Customers who have insurance that requires co-payments on drugs will pay either the $4 Wal-Mart price or the co-payment, whichever is lower, said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jami Arms.
The big-box stores’ foray into cut-rate prescriptions scares Jit Dhaliwal, president of Capitol Heights Pharmacy & Liquor on Madison Street in Denver.
He believes the companies are going to drive small pharmacies such as his out of business, then raise their prices when competition has been reduced.
“The big boys are going to compete and fight for the same customer, and the small pharmacies will die out. It is basically anti-competition. In the short run, it will hurt the small pharmacy, and in the long run, it will hurt customers,” Dhaliwal said.
Owners of some of the 200 small pharmacies that are members of RxPlus Pharmacies agree with Dhaliwal, said Brad Young, RxPlus director of governmental relations. The association represents independent pharmacies in eight states, most of them in Colorado.
“Some of them feel it is a threat; some of them feel it isn’t, because a lot of generic drugs are pretty inexpensive. If you do go into a community pharmacy, you will still get pretty good prices,” Young said.
He called Wal-Mart’s plan a “marketing ploy” to help lure customers into the retailer’s stores, where they will buy other items besides drugs.
Customers will continue using independent pharmacies in spite of the price cuts because they appreciate the personal attention they get from neighborhood pharmacists, Young said.
Wal-Mart’s Arms denied that the chain has any motive other than to provide customers good prices.
“We are really just committed to doing what we do best, which is driving cost out of the system,” Arms said.
Wal-Mart officials said the chain won’t lose money on the deal.
Grocery chain King Soopers, which has pharmacies in its stores, has no plans to follow Wal-Mart’s lead at this time, said King Soopers spokesman Trail Daugherty.
King Soopers parent company, Kroger, is running pilot discount-drug programs in Albuquerque, Omaha and Peoria, Ill., Daugherty said.
“Until the success of that pilot is determined, we don’t see any change here,” he said.
Rite Aid Corp., which has 3,320 stores around the country, doesn’t plan to change its pricing on generics, said Rite Aid spokeswoman Jody Cook.
More than 95 percent of prescriptions filled by the drug- store chain are paid for by insurance. Co-payments on most of the drugs that Wal-Mart is selling for $4 are not much more than that amount at Rite Aid, she said.
Most Rite Aid customers won’t sacrifice the convenience of neighborhood locations and drive-through service for a trip to Wal-Mart, Cook said.
Staff writer Tom McGhee can be reached at 303-820-1671 or tmcghee@denverpost.com.
Some of the 143 generic drugs available at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club at $4 for a 30-day supply:
Loratadine, naproxen, amoxicillin*, penicillin, tetracycline, colchicine, albuterol, verapamil, lovastatin*, metformin*, cimetidine, atropine, levothyroxine,* oxybutynin.
* Certain dosages of these drugs may cost more than $4 because of Colorado laws.
