The Drug Trade
Chalk one up for Wal-Mart! By lowering the price on a list of generic drugs to $4.00 on a 30-day supply, they may have made a real difference for you and me. For me, they saved me some money, even though I do not normally shop there.
We have a Wal-Mart in our town, several miles from where I live. I do have a Target, K-Mart, several supermarkets, and a Fred Meyer much closer to where I live. We have determined that for most things, we either go to Target or Fred Meyer. Sometimes the price on an item is better at one store than the other. For prescriptions, I go to Fred Meyer. I have medical coverage that includes prescriptions. I have been paying $10.00 each for a 30-day supply of two generic drugs I have to take daily, through my health insurance. Wal-Mart announced its plans to charge only $4 each, as these two drugs are on their list. I had just visited my doctor to get new prescriptions, and made a deal with him. One of the pills I take has to be cut in half so I get the correct amount. The medical insurance company insists that I am only allowed a 30-day supply at any given time. I guess that they are worried that if I get a 90-day supply at a time, I may sell the drugs to someone else, at more than I pay. I don't know anyone who would want these two drugs besides me, but I have to run to Fred Meyer once a month to get my pills. If my doctor writes a 90-day prescription for the drug, I get it doled out to me over three months. The deal I made with my doctor was to prescribe a whole pill a day, while I know to cut up the pills and only take half. The same $10.00 I was spending on 15 pills (which, cut in half, was a 30-day supply), I am now spending on 30 pills. This tactic would save me $60.00 for the year and cut use of my car for this purpose by half. Then Wal-Mart lowered the prices. I called Fred Meyer and asked if they would sell me the drugs at the same price Wal-Mart was selling them - $4.00 for a 30-day supply. They said they would. So I went to Fred Meyer with a fresh prescription for 90 whole pills, and told them I wanted to buy the 90-day supply without putting it through my insurance. I bought what looks like a 90-day supply for all of $12.00, while it is actually a 180-day supply, as the pills are to be cut in half for my consumption. Instead of these pills costing me $120.00 per year, plus gas and wear and tear on my car, these same pills cost me $24.00 for the year and only around trips to the store for that purpose. A savings of $96.00 for the year on just one drug. Next month I will get a large supply of the other drug.
I hope that Wal-Mart with their huge pricing clout has started something to start lowering the cost of health-care in this country. Wal-Mart has everything to gain from this: It gets people into their stores, it lowers the cost of drugs to their own employees, it forces other companies to pressure the drug manufacturers to lower their prices, and it is better for you and me!
We have a Wal-Mart in our town, several miles from where I live. I do have a Target, K-Mart, several supermarkets, and a Fred Meyer much closer to where I live. We have determined that for most things, we either go to Target or Fred Meyer. Sometimes the price on an item is better at one store than the other. For prescriptions, I go to Fred Meyer. I have medical coverage that includes prescriptions. I have been paying $10.00 each for a 30-day supply of two generic drugs I have to take daily, through my health insurance. Wal-Mart announced its plans to charge only $4 each, as these two drugs are on their list. I had just visited my doctor to get new prescriptions, and made a deal with him. One of the pills I take has to be cut in half so I get the correct amount. The medical insurance company insists that I am only allowed a 30-day supply at any given time. I guess that they are worried that if I get a 90-day supply at a time, I may sell the drugs to someone else, at more than I pay. I don't know anyone who would want these two drugs besides me, but I have to run to Fred Meyer once a month to get my pills. If my doctor writes a 90-day prescription for the drug, I get it doled out to me over three months. The deal I made with my doctor was to prescribe a whole pill a day, while I know to cut up the pills and only take half. The same $10.00 I was spending on 15 pills (which, cut in half, was a 30-day supply), I am now spending on 30 pills. This tactic would save me $60.00 for the year and cut use of my car for this purpose by half. Then Wal-Mart lowered the prices. I called Fred Meyer and asked if they would sell me the drugs at the same price Wal-Mart was selling them - $4.00 for a 30-day supply. They said they would. So I went to Fred Meyer with a fresh prescription for 90 whole pills, and told them I wanted to buy the 90-day supply without putting it through my insurance. I bought what looks like a 90-day supply for all of $12.00, while it is actually a 180-day supply, as the pills are to be cut in half for my consumption. Instead of these pills costing me $120.00 per year, plus gas and wear and tear on my car, these same pills cost me $24.00 for the year and only around trips to the store for that purpose. A savings of $96.00 for the year on just one drug. Next month I will get a large supply of the other drug.
I hope that Wal-Mart with their huge pricing clout has started something to start lowering the cost of health-care in this country. Wal-Mart has everything to gain from this: It gets people into their stores, it lowers the cost of drugs to their own employees, it forces other companies to pressure the drug manufacturers to lower their prices, and it is better for you and me!
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9:51 AM
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