Area pharmacists have heard the word about Wal-Mart’s $4 generic drug program coming to Alabama, and they don’t seem to be worried at all.“I don’t think it will affect us at all,” said Keith Hobbs, pharmacist at Professional Apothecary in Talladega. “It’s on the cheapest drugs out there. We might have to go up on ours to reach $4.”
On Thursday, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced that stores throughout Alabama, along with 11 other states, will start offering the $4 generic drug program in their pharmacies.
According to the Associated Press, the new drug program allows customers to pay $4 for a one-month supply of medication.
Included on the discount list are 314 prescriptions, ranging from antibiotics to anti-depressants and vitamins. Of those medications, 143 are offered in a variety of dosages and either solid or liquid forms.
The program first kicked off in stores throughout Florida three weeks ago and then brought 14 more states into the mix. The new class added last week brings the total up to 27 states.
“They’re just trying to get more traffic in there,” said Ray McDiarmid, owner of Dixie Drugs in Sylacauga. “I don’t think it’s going to make any difference either way.”
Tommy Hebson, owner of Palace Drug in Sylacauga, said he doesn’t believe Wal-Mart’s new policy is going to have an impact on his business.
He said the majority of Palace’s customers are on Medicaid and the new Medicare Part D, so $2 is often the highest they ever pay.
“Wal-Mart is in the business to make money,” Hebson said. “It sounds so good, but there’s got to be something about it that’s not clear.”
He said the kinds of drugs on the list will determine whether or not Wal-Mart’s new program is a good deal. Some generics are expensive and several medications have multiple doses, Hebson said, and he hasn’t seen enough concrete information to know if the 300 plus prescriptions are as good as they seem to be.
“Right now, I think it’s just a kind of publicity stunt and they’re just trying to get more business,” Hebson said.
Still, area pharmacists say it’s a wait-and-see deal and only time will tell if the $4 discount prices are enough to cause them to worry. Right now, they say it’s not an issue.
“We’ve always tried to give our customers the lowest prices,” Hobbs said, “so I don’t think we’ll have a problem.”
