Sixty percent of all prescriptions in the survey cost less at Wal-Mart.

By Bonnie Washuk

Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Wal-Mart’s $4 prescriptions are a good deal, but the discount is available only a percent of the time, according to a Sun Journal cost survey of commonly prescribed drugs.

The giant retailer began offering $4 generic prescriptions in Maine in November. A Sun Journal analysis shows four of the 20 drugs most often purchased by Medicaid patients in Maine are on Wal-Mart’s discounted list.

And it’s too soon to tell whether senior citizens will benefit much, said Neena Quirion of the Maine Council of Senior Citizens.

“It’s a good deal for you if you’re on one of those drugs,” Quirion said. “Hopefully, they’ll expand the list.”

Wal-Mart says the list represents more than 25 percent of the prescriptions most often filled at its stores nationwide. “We think that’s a significant percentage and will have a significant impact on the lives of our customers,” said spokesman Dan Fogleman.

The state’s prescription expert offered a mixed review of Wal-Mart’s $4 deal.

“It’s always important for consumers to get the lowest price they can,” said Jude Walsh, who oversees prescription drugs for Governor’s Office of Health Policy and Finance.

But she is concerned about patient safety.

When people buy prescriptions through their insurance companies, providers review the drugs to make sure patients aren’t taking harmful combinations. If people pay cash and don’t go through their health insurance providers, that safety review can’t be done, Walsh said.

She advised people to make sure they use their prescription cards.

She also wants people to recognize that other Maine pharmacies can’t afford to sell prescriptions for $4.

“Wal-Mart is able to get better rates because of their purchasing power,” Walsh said. It’s nice that they’re using that power to lower costs, but other pharmacies stand to lose business, she said. “It’s already a tight market.”

‘Effective ploy’

Pharmacist Bob Morrisette of Scarborough agreed that Wal-Mart’s offer has the potential to pull consumers from small, independent pharmacies.

“It’s the big-box people asserting power over the little guy,” he said.

Morrisette is vice president of the Maine Pharmacy Association and president of the Pharmacy Group of New England, which represents independent pharmacies.

He called the Wal-Mart prescription offer “an effective ploy” and a “bait-and-switch.”

The deal draws people into the store hoping to get their prescriptions filled for $4, he said. If they’re not on the list, the Wal-Mart pharmacist will offer to fill it anyway, Morrisette said.

The Virginia-based National Community Pharmacist Association, which represents independent pharmacies, called Wal-Mart’s drug offer a “public-relations stunt.”

The deal represents a tiny percentage of the total prescriptions on the market, the group complained. Consumers should ask Wal-Mart what they charge for the remaining prescriptions, said Bruce Roberts, the association’s executive vice president.

Lower prices

The Sun Journal survey showed that more than half of the prescriptions we examined at Wal-Mart cost less than at other pharmacies.

A cost comparison of 20 prescriptions at seven pharmacies showed that Wal-Mart sold 12 of the drugs for less than its competitors.

Kmart came in second, with four of the 20 prescriptions priced lower than they were at the other pharmacies.

Kmart says it will match any lower prescription price within a 15-mile radius. Once a pharmacist confirms the lower price, “we’ll give it to you at the same price,” said corporate spokeswoman Colleen Cleary.

Wal-Mart spokesman Fogleman said the retailer picked the prescriptions for its discount plan based on “many of the ailments that everyday families face: diabetes cancer, thyroid, infections. It runs the full gamut.”

And they did it to make money. “We expect it to be profitable,” Fogleman said.

The plan, which includes 143 drugs, offers Wal-Mart an opportunity to do what it does best: Drive unnecessary costs out of the supply chain and pass those savings on to customers, he said.

He said Wal-Mart wants to help make health care more affordable.

“Too many customers are choosing essentials, choosing eating or taking their medicine,” he said. “We want to make sure that we’re helping them get the medicine they need at a price they can afford.”

bwashuk@sunjournal.com

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