Will WalMart change US healthcare?
When WalMart introduced the $4 prescription program, my commentary headline was “much ado about not much”. In retrospect, too strong a statement that early on. The initial program covered less than 1% of the scripts filled at WalMart, and was widely seen as a more of a marketing ploy than major new program. To WalMart’s credit, they quickly increased the number of drugs covered and participating stores; before the latest news fully one-fifth of scripts filled at wallyworld were for $4 drugs. With the benefit of hindsight, it looks like the program has had two rather significant effects – dramatically reducing drug costs for some individuals, and (possibly) driving down drug costs nation-wide. Now I’m thinking this may just be the start of a major expansion of WalMart into the health care sector.
