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October 09, 2006
Well Knock Me Over With A Feather!
Remember Wal-Mart's big, exciting, PR-friendly program to lower prescription drugs prices? A bait-and-switch.
October 9, 2006 in Wal-Mart | Permalink
Comments
That's good Ezra. Quote from the piece:
'"I’m not saying it’s a bait and switch, but you’re left with 124 different drugs, which is fine, but not compared to the thousands of generic drugs out there," said Ernest Boyd, executive director of the Ohio Pharmacists Association'
He says it isn't a bait and switch. You say it is. Upon what evidence may I ask?
Posted by: Tim Worstall | Oct 9, 2006 1:07:38 PM
Bait and switch is bringing people in looking for one thing and then only offering another, not quite what is happening here. They actually do have the $4 drugs, but fewer than some might have expected from the initial publicity. They never suggested all or most of their generics would go at that price. That they are the cheaper drugs shouldn't be a surprise either. Why would anyone have expected them to sell the more expensive ones at that price? The folks quoted in the article must have been dreaming.
Posted by: Sanpete | Oct 9, 2006 1:17:40 PM
I am not going to complain. I have yet to see if they are available, but if I can get just one of the drugs that would raise my quality of life, I will still be grateful for the oppertunity to actually get the script filled at a price I can afford. Short of that, I am certain there are people out there who are able to get such prescriptions filled, that they couldn't previously - I am quite certain it is worth it for them.
It is dissapointing to find that the list of covered drugs is so short, but anything helps.
Posted by: DuWayne | Oct 9, 2006 1:35:21 PM
According to Walgreens, of the several hundred million prescriptions it fills each year, fully 20% are for drugs included in Wal-Mart's initial $4 pricing initiative (for a 30 day supply). Since Wal-Mart's announcement of the rollout to all of Florida last week, some additional drugs were added to low price group. As an aside, generics currently account for 50%-55% of all prescriptions but only about 20% of the dollars spent on drugs.
Posted by: BC | Oct 9, 2006 2:56:21 PM
Tim Worstall,
Ezra just plain doesn't like Wal-Mart. It's the basic intellectual's contempt for the low tastes of the masses. See the thread below, where Ezra states that he believes, and I quote, "how to handle Wal-Mart is among the two or three most important issues facing the country."
http://www.prospect.org/weblog/2006/08/post_1228.html
Posted by: Orkon | Oct 9, 2006 4:37:40 PM
Congrats on the new trolls, Ezra. They conveniently pop up right after Cap'n Toke got banned.
I like this Orkon dude. He's got the misattributed rationale going (ezra doesn't like wal mart because he thinks the people who shop there smell) and the pseudo-historian thing going (columbus killed entire races of man in 1492 instead of 1992, therefore we should forgive him!) I can't wait until the mask comes off and we see just what kind of wingnut he is. Will he slur teh gheys? Or will he call for a cleansing of the middle east via nuclear weapon? Only time will tell.
Posted by: verplanck colvin | Oct 9, 2006 6:37:38 PM
I like this Orkon dude.
So do I. I don't agree with what he said here, but I see from the other thread that he's able to carry out a rational discussion, more carefully than many others here, who are more inclined to depend on name calling.
Posted by: Sanpete | Oct 9, 2006 7:04:19 PM
Tim W, "I’m not saying it’s a bait and switch" doesn't mean the same as "I'm saying it's not a bait and switch." "I’m not saying it’s a bait and switch, but" really doesn't mean the same.
Posted by: Matt Weiner | Oct 9, 2006 7:39:20 PM
I thought if they actually did it it would be a bad thing, according to Ezra, since cheap prices means squeezing suppliers.
Posted by: Adam Herman | Oct 13, 2006 4:59:25 PM
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