New Lower Prices on Drugs Announced by Wal-Mart and Target

Wal-Mart has entered into the third phase of its $4 Prescription Program, which now covers a 90-day prescription for $10, additional women’s health medications and a new $4 over-the-counter (OTC) offer. The 90-day option gives more choices to customers and physicians who may have been limited to mail order prescriptions in the past.

The new phase includes:

• Enhanced $4 Prescription Program
  Beginning today, Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sam’s Club pharmacies will fill prescriptions for up to 350 generic medications at $10 for a 90-day supply. This will give customers an additional choice and save them time and money without the hassle of purchasing or signing-up for a pharmacy discount card.

• Additional women’s health medicines
  Expanding on the women’s medicines added to Wal-Mart’s prescription program in September 2007, Alendronate, the recently introduced generic version of Fosamax used to treat osteoporosis, is now available for $9 for up to a 30-day supply or $24 for a 90-day supply.

  Compared to the $54 that women previously paid for the same generic supply or $102 for the same branded supply, Wal-Mart could save osteoporosis patients between $45 and $93 per month or up to $1,116 per year.

  In addition, medications to treat breast cancer (tamoxifen), menopause and hormone deficiency (combination estrogen/methyltestosterone tablets) were also added to the growing list of $9 women’s medications.

• New $4 OTC (over the counter) offering
  Wal-Mart has rolled back prices on key OTC items to ensure that almost one-third of its OTC medicines are now $4 or lower. Now, many commonly used OTC medicines such as the Equate-brand versions of popular drugs like Zantac, Pepcid and Claritin are priced at $4, approximately 50 percent lower than many national chain drugstores and grocers based on Wal-Mart’s internal research.

Women’s health products like Wal-Mart’s Spring Valley-branded prenatal vitamins were also lowered to $4 as part of the $4 OTC program.

Up to 95 percent of the prescriptions written in the majority of therapeutic categories are included in the $4 Prescription Program. The affordable prices for these prescriptions are available for commonly prescribed dosages for up to 30-days or 90-days.

Target Responds With Lower Drug Prices

Soon after the Wal-Mart announcement, Target followed with its news that it will reduce prices on its prescription and over-the-counter drug offerings, remaining competitively priced with Wal-Mart.

The Target program includes an expanded assortment of $4 prescription drugs, 90-day supply of these medications for $10 and over-the-counter medications for $4 or less.