Independent drugstores under fire!

Walmart and Humana have jointly announced an initiative that is certain to impact the retail drugstore industry. The companies recently introduced the Preferred Rx Plan for the Medicare Part D prescription drug market that currently serves some 18 million seniors who rely on PDPs for their prescription services.

Walmart, with approximately 7% of all the retail pharmacies in the U.S., is seeking to increase traffic at its pharmacies. Humana, with nearly 2 million Medicare stand-alone PDP members, intends to increase its generic dispensing rate from its existing customers.

The new plan offers Medicare beneficiaries a single national monthly plan premium of $14.80 — less than half the national prescription drug plan average, according to some estimates — and a co-pay of just $2 on many generic drugs. Those rates are only offered through Walmart, Sam’s Club and Neighborhood Market pharmacies.

As part of the new plan, Humana is willing to take a reduced profit from its existing PDP membership. Humana’s average premium for its existing PDP membership is approximately $40, while the Walmart premium is around $15. Humana worked with Walmart to accept its national $15 premium hoping to leverage its existing relationship with the senior population and sell additional products and services to those customers.

Open enrollment begins the 15th of November  and continues through the end of the year. The impact the of the Walmart-Humana relationship should positively impact both companies’ bottom line. What impact will it have on the independent drugstore’s bottom line?