I am going to defend Wal-Mart. First let me say that I am a recently retired pharmacist that spent the last 6 years working for Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart was the first pharmacy chain to come out with $4 generics. The very large list of generics that they sell for $4 represents many of the most common generic drugs that are sold today. If, however, you are prescribed a generic drug that is not on their $4 list, I would strongly suggest that you ask how much it will cost and if you think the price is too high, then shop around. Wal-Marts pricing forced many other chains to follow suit and to substantially lower their generic pricing. As a Wal-Mart pharmacist I felt proud that they were the leaders in low priced generics that enabled people who once could not afford their meds every month to now be able to get them. I was also proud that the low prices helped people avoid the "doughnut hole." The manager of your Wal-Mart was probably telling you the truth when he said the other pharmacy had a special contract with your health plan. If you purchased the prescription on your health plan, I would recommend calling your health plan to find out why for the same drug you had different co-pays in different stores. The stores do not set the copay, the health plan does.
After I finished posting this, I came across another thread posted today under the heading "pharmacy ripoff". Here it is:
I was in a hurry and droped of 3 scripts at Walgreens for a cost just under $ 100. All of these have been transfered to Walmart for a cost of $ 10.00 each for 90 days. Walgreens also charged me $ 286.16 For 60 Celebrex. I just ordered 100 in Canada online for $56 ( generic) to try. US script would be $ 109 for 100 but I thought I would try the generic first. My brother filled a script at CVS 30 days for $ 32. Next he went to Walmart and got the refill for $4. Shoping at the corner drug stores is not a good choice.
|