Why Can Wal-Mart Sell Prescription Drugs So Cheap?
Walmart's Prescription Program offers some prescription medications for $4 for a 30 day supply or $10 for 3 months supply, which may appear to save a lot of money. However, there are some limitations and several reasons why Walmart can sell prescription drugs so inexpensively.
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Limited List
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Several thousand medications are available for general prescription use, but Walmart has selected around only 300 different medications for inclusion in the program. In addition, many of the items on the list are simply different strengths of the same medication.
Generic Medication
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With the limited list, most of the products included are available only in generic form which lowers the cost of the medication.
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Older Medications
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Most of the available items are medications that have been in use for a long period of time. The list does not include new medications, which may be more effective for certain people or conditions.
Buy In Bulk
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Because Walmart is such a large organization, it is able to purchase medications in bulk and divide them among the many pharmacy locations available nationwide, giving Walmart a large discount on the cost of each pill.
Sell at Cost
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Walmart may be selling the medication at or below cost as a so-called loss leader. Walmart counts on the other purchases that will be made while customers wait for a prescription to provide profit for the store.
Price Matching
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While Walmart is well known for the $4 prescription program, many other pharmacy chains offer similar plans. Some drugstores provide price matching when asked and may be able to provide other, newer medications at a lower cost than Walmart.
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