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A competitive retail trend to offer generic prescriptions at low-ball prices to consumers has turned into a juggernaut this year.
One of the last major holdouts, CVS Caremark, finally stepped onto the field with a program beginning Nov. 9 that offers a 90-day supply of 400 generics for $9.99. To take advantage of the discounts, customers need to enroll in its Health Savings Pass program for an annual fee of $10. Membership also grants a 10 percent discount to services at CVS' MinuteClinic health clinics to cashpaying patients.
Like many retailers, CVS chairman, president and chief executive officer Tom Ryan said its program is addressing the needs of the uninsured and underinsured. "The country is facing a very challenging economic environment. People are struggling with health- care costs," he said in a statement. "As the largest provider of pharmacy health care in the nation, we felt it was the right time to offer consumers another way to make their health care more affordable."
The generics discounting all began in September 2006 when Wal-Mart decreed it wanted to "provide more affordable health care for America's working families." Its men-new $4 for a 30-day supply offer undercut an earlier program introduced by Kmart of a 90day supply of select generics for $15 (a price it has since reduced to $10). Target immediately followed suit...