ALEXANDRIA, Va., Oct. 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc., the world’s largest corporation, today announced a
Medicare prescription drug plan that imposes higher co-payments on
seniors who choose to continue using their trusted local, community
pharmacy.
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In response to the Humana Walmart-Preferred Rx Plan, National
Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) President and Arlington,
Texas pharmacy owner Joseph H. Harmison, PD, issued the following
statement:
“This is simply Walmart’s latest ‘loss leader,’ intended to
bring more people through its doors at the expense of patient care
and quality customer service. Patients taking a brand name drug or
who can’t or don’t want to take a therapeutic substitute for the
drug their doctor prescribed may see little, if any, savings.
What’s more, patients are being financially coerced to get their
medications at Walmart stores which make up less than seven percent
of all of the retail pharmacies in the U.S.
“The newly released
J.D. Power and Associates 2010 National Pharmacy Study affirms
that patients continue to give Walmart pharmacies very poor marks.
The company garnered industry-low customer satisfaction ratings for
both its retail and mail order pharmacies.
“The negative views patients have toward Walmart pharmacy
persist despite high profile, multi-million dollar campaigns, such
as promoting $4 generic drugs. In fact, many independent community
pharmacists saw patients return to their pharmacies once they
experienced the wait times and assembly-line service
first-hand.
“By contrast,
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