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reprint or license thisWal-Mart offers $4 generic drugs to South Carolinians
But amid rising prescription costs, critics say retail giant’s program covers only a small fraction of what people use
By JIM DuPLESSIS
jduplessis@thestate.com
Wal-Mart extended its $4 generic-drug deal to South Carolina and 10 other states Thursday.
The 69 Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club pharmacies in South Carolina now sell a 30-day supply of certain generic drugs for $4.
The offer applies to 143 different medications, which the Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer estimates account for about a quarter of prescriptions filled at Wal-Mart.
Mike Davis, director of pharmacy operations for Sam’s Clubs in South Carolina, North Carolina and Tennessee, said Wal-Mart’s offer will help Americans struggling with the rising price of health care.
“Wal-Mart is making a difference by applying its business principles and passing along its savings to its customers,” he said.
Critics said the plan covers a small fraction of the drugs people use.
“We’re talking about a handful of drugs. I’m not so certain it will have as big an impact as they say it will,” said Carmelo Cinqueonce, director of the S.C. Pharmacy Association, which represents the state’s roughly 300 independent pharmacies.
The world’s largest retailer started rolling out its $4 generic-drug plan in Tampa, Fla., in September. The chain expects to extend the offer to all 50 states by as early as January.
On Thursday, Wal-Mart announced its plan in South Carolina at a news conference at its Sam’s Club store on Harbison Boulevard.
S.C. Rep. Bill Cotty, R-Columbia, who attended the news conference, said he hopes Wal-Mart’s plan stimulates competitors to offer similar savings.
“We’re a poor state. We have limited dollars,” Cotty said. “If we’re going to raise the quality of life for young people — and people who are not so young — we’ve got to look at health care.”
Still, the offer has limitations.
The Wal-Mart plan applies to about 1 percent of the 11,000 prescription drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Of those, 8,700 drugs have generic versions.
CVS said its pharmacy customers filling prescriptions spent less than one half of 1 percent on the drugs covered by Wal-Mart’s plan. CVS has 177 drug stores in South Carolina.
Many of the drugs covered by Wal-Mart are older and less effective than newer versions, said Carol Cooke, spokeswoman for the National Community Pharmacists Association, based in Alexandria, Va. “If you look closely at the drugs covered, it’s a lot of smoke and mirrors.”
Wal-Mart is not the first retailer to offer a generic-drug discount program.
In May, Kmart launched a similar plan at all its 1,100 U.S. stores, including 28 in South Carolina. Kmart offers 90-day supplies of 94 generic drugs for $15, or the equivalent of $5 per month.
Drug costs are climbing fast, and many people are struggling to match their incomes to their doses.
The cost of drugs is rising faster than inflation. Name-brand drugs are rising two or three times the inflation rate, said Steve Hahn, spokesman for the AARP, a advocacy group for the elderly in Washington, D.C.
President Bush’s prescription-drug plan, which went into effect last January, prohibits the government from using its buying power to bargain for lower prices for the 44 million Americans covered by Medicare, federal insurance for those 65 and older, or disabled.
Democrats, who will take control of Congress in January, have said they will give that bargaining power to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Columbia resident Fred Price, a Sam’s Club customer who attended the news conference, said government buying clout would make a big difference.
Still, Price also credited Wal-Mart for its initiative.
“This is one big step forward. I know people who hesitate from taking drugs simply because they can’t afford it,” he said.
Price, a trim World War II veteran, said he and his wife, both 80, suffer from Type 2 diabetes and heart ailments.
They already have spent more than $10,200 out of their pockets for drugs this year. “It’s rough. It comes out of savings.”
Reach DuPlessis at (803) 771-8305.
ON THE LIST
Examples of a month’s supply of drugs available in the new Wal-Mart plan, in certain strengths and doses:
• Antibiotic: Amoxicillin
• Antidepressant: Amitriptyline
• Arthritis: Allopurinol
• Asthma: Albuterol
• Cardiac: Warfarin
• Cholesterol: Lovastatin
• Cough/cold: Benzonatate
• Diabetes: Chlorpropamide
S.C. DRUGSTORES
Independents and five chains operate more than 700 S.C. stores with pharmacies.
| Independent stores | 300 |
| CVS | 177 |
| Eckerd | 107 |
| Wal-Mart | 69 |
| Walgreens | 53 |
| Kmart | 28 |
WAL-MART IN S.C.
| Supercenters | 50 |
| Discount stores | 13 |
| Sam’s Clubs | 9 |
| Distribution centers | 2 |
| Employees | 25,551 |
| Average hourly pay | $10.30 |
SOURCES: Companies, S.C. Pharmacy Association
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