• Wall Street Journal, Monday, May 4, 2009 11 AM

Wal-Mart is offering businesses low-priced drugs if they sign up to buy directly from its network of in-store pharmacies, rather than contracting to buy drugs through third parties known as pharmacy-benefit managers (PBMs), Ann Zimmerman and Amy Merrick report. The program expands on a pilot it undertook with Caterpillar last year. The retailer will not say if it has already signed other clients.

Todd Bisping, who manages Caterpillar's drug-benefits program, says the company was able to reduce its drug costs enough that it waived copayments on generic prescriptions bought from Wal-Mart. "This is a game changer," says Adam Fein, president of Pembroke Consulting and author of a blog called Drug Channels. "Right now there is no incentive for an employee to choose the lowest-price pharmacy, because the copays are all equivalent."

Wal-Mart records a profit for each drug sale and benefits by drawing customers to its stores, who may make other purchases, from groceries to hardware.

Read the whole story at Wall Street Journal »