It’s so much fun to watch the nay sayers try to write their way out of saying anything positive about Wal Mart. I guess I should let folks know this: I’m a Wal Mart shopper for certain things ONLY. I don’t defend Wal Mart because it’s a favorite place for me to go to; I defend them because it’s an American success story. A business that has prospered and grown and, it’s customers have grown with it.

In the past several months Wal Mart has introduced a generic prescription drug program- over 300 drugs are now available for $4.00 for a 30 day supply. The program is now in 38 states. Much TADOO has been made of this too…the drugs are generic; there aren’t enough variety- several of the same drugs (in different delivery modes) are listed and this could be deceiving to some…and so on.
I think Wal Mart was smart NOT to open up all the drugs to this program, for now. Give it time though. I found 3 articles today- each with a different angle on how this is and isn’t working. I report. You decide.

Here in NH we’re hearing two different stories:

To hear their pharmacist tell it, business is booming at Concord’s Wal-Mart ever since the company announced it would offer 143 generic prescription medications for $4 a month. But if Concord’s other pharmacies are losing customers, they’re not talking.

“We’re not seeing any measurable impact or customer loss,” said Caren Epstein, a spokeswoman for the grocery chain Hannaford, which is matching Wal-Mart’s price on the drugs, in accordance with a policy to match the prices of any competitor.

“No, none whatsoever,” said Tom Wilmot, the owner of the Apothecary Express, who said he’s lost no prescriptions but has had a couple of concerned customers worry that the move will hurt his business. He’s told them not to worry.

“My response has been uniform the whole time: that it is really no big deal,” he said.

Since Oct. 26, New Hampshire has been one of 27 states where Wal-Mart customers can buy some generic drugs for $4 a month. (They can also buy them at Hannaford, Target and Kmart, which are matching the price.)

Kelley Noel, a staff pharmacist at the Concord Wal-Mart, said that since the plan’s rollout, she’s seen a slow but steady increase in the number of new prescriptions she’s filled, particularly prescriptions that have been transferred from another pharmacy.

“I can visibly tell you that my transfer volume has increased,” she said. “We do have a lot of people who are transferring everything over, even though maybe only some of (their drugs) are on the list.”

According to Noel, those prescriptions are coming from a variety of sources: chain drugstores, independent pharmacies and mail-order companies.

So which is it? What the local pharmacies may not notice right off here is customers who are going to Wal Mart with first time prescriptions- often antibiotics for the kids…I know a few people who are doing just this. Instead of switching they are giving Wal Mart a chance with a one time fillup – to test the service. While they shop, the pharmacy fills the prescript and the customer collects it before they check out.

The program just launched down in MA:

At the pharmacy counter of the Wal-Mart in Weymouth yesterday, Quincy resident Ellen Riley said she welcomed the savings, no matter how modest, as she examined the four-page list of $4 generics with the aid of a large magnifying glass.

“Awesome,” Riley said. “I just found seven of my medications on the list. I take 14 medications. Any way you can save a dollar on drugs, that’s great.”

Mary Scott and her husband, Richard, were at the Weymouth store to fill a $4 prescription for a cholesterol-lowering drug. Previously, they paid $124 for a 30-day supply, Mary Scott said.

“I can’t believe it,” she said. “I saved $120.”

WOW. That’s a lot of money to be saved.

Walgreen Co. and CVS Corp., the nation’s two largest drugstore chains, said they will not match the $4 generic prices. The chains said shoppers will realize that only a small fraction of generic medications are included in the Wal-Mart discounts.

They also are betting that customers with health insurance will be willing to pay a bit more, in $5 and $10 co payments, for more convenient locations and extra service, like 24-hour pharmacies. And seniors enrolled in the Medicare prescription drug plan already enjoy $3 co payments, Walgreen said.

Mom-and-pop drugstores, meanwhile, said they won’t attempt to match the Wal-Mart discounts because generic drugs are crucial to their profits.

“The traditional pharmacies don’t have bicycles and fishing poles to make up the margin,” said Derick Anderson , pharmacist at J.E. Pierce Apothecary in Brookline.

No one is going to willing to pay MORE. Why would they? And the Mom and Pop shops might find themselves out of business- I can see that happening for sure. It’s competition. And the consumer always wins.

One of the issues that keeps being talked about is the lack of drugs Wal Mart has in this program. That might change:

Wal-Mart (WMT – commentary – Cramer’s Take – Rating) has given pharmacy benefit managers another bitter pill to swallow.

This week, the heavyweight retailer added the generic form of Pravachol — a popular cholesterol-lowering medication — to its new $4-a-month prescription drug program. The addition of the drug, which lost its exclusivity just weeks ago, ranks as the biggest threat yet to PBMs that enjoy fat margins on non-branded drugs.

UBS analyst Ricky Goldwasser sounds worried.

“The significance of adding a drug such as Pravachol to the list is twofold,” he explains. “First, as a newer drug, it is a more profitable drug to pharmacies and PBMs compared to other drugs on the list. Second, it raises the question as to whether Wal-Mart will add additional drugs as they exit (the) 180-day exclusivity period.”

Importantly, Goldwasser asks, could generic forms of blockbusters Zocor and Zoloft – both expected to boost future PBM profits significantly – be next on Wal-Mart’s list? Given the latest development, he says, the chances for this look higher.

Time will tell whether this ends up being a good thing or not. I don’t see how Wal Mart can go wrong with this. And I see other drug sellers, pharmacies, becoming a lot more competitive. It’s not a bad thing. People need choices and the costs of medications is outrageous. Any effort to reign down these costs is good for consumers.