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Medicare Drug Program News
Poll Finds Consumers Will Grab Generic Drug
Discounts, Spurn Brand Names
Wal-Mart discounts
being met by many competitors
 October 20, 2006 With Wal-Mart's expansion of its
generic drug offer of $4 for a 30-day supply to 14 new states, the
competition, even in the local markets, is stepping up to meet the
challenge. And, all are likely to attract a big share of the
prescription drug market away from brand name drugs, says a new poll.
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Wal-Mart Rolling Out $4 Generic Drug Program to 14
States Today
 October 19, 2006 - Wal-Mart Stores announced that
starting today it is rolling out its $4 generic prescription program in
14 additional states. With the announcement, the $4 generic prescription
program will be now be available in an additional 1,264 stores
throughout Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana,
Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas
and Vermont.
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Seniors Who Can Least Afford Brand Name Drugs Most
Likely to Spurn Generics
Physicians need to prescribe lower cost generic
drugs when available
 October 13, 2006 A new study, focusing on
cardiovascular drugs, has found that senior citizens with the lowest
incomes or no prescription insurance coverage are less likely than their
more affluent contemporaries or those with prescription coverage to use
generic drugs. The Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers say
physicians need to be more aggressive about prescribing generic drugs.
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Read more
on
Medicare Drug Program
or
Medicare
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The new Wall Street Journal Online/Harris
Interactive Health-Care Poll found two trends appear to be highly
probable the substitution of generic drugs for brand name drugs, and
the use of mega-stores to buy generics at lower prices.
This poll, however, was taken between October 4 and
6 prior to the expansion by Wal-Mart and the suggestion that the
mega-stores will be the primary providers of these low-priced generics
may be changing.
In Texas, for example, the HEB supermarkets
announced today a program offering a month's supply of generic drugs for
$5. That's a buck higher than Wal-Mart but their marketing advantage is
that it applies to 500 generic drugs, many more than the 314 available
at Wal-Mart.
Of all adults, those who purchase prescription
drugs (93%) are most likely to say they go to chain drug stores, like
Walgreens, CVS or Eckerd to buy them for themselves or a family member
(39%). While substantially fewer say they currently go to the pharmacy
at a discount store like Wal-Mart, Target or Sams Club (13%), this may
soon change.
Recently, Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart announced that
they will begin selling some generic prescription drugs at discounted
prices in some parts of the country. Wal-Mart and Target will sell a
30-day supply of these drugs for $4.00 and Kmart will sell a 90-day
supply for $15.00. Half (50%) of those who purchase prescription drugs
say they will be likely (17%), very likely (20%) or absolutely certain
(13%) to fill their prescriptions at these stores, compared with another
25 percent who say they will be somewhat likely and only 26 percent who
say they are not at all likely to do so.
This could be a huge advantage for these
mega-stores, considering a majority (68%) of adults who buy prescription
drugs say they would choose to buy a generic drug more often than they
would a brand name drug. Large minorities say they would pay up to
$10.00 (40%), or even between $10.01 and $25.00 (36%), out of pocket for
a 30-day supply of generic prescription drugs, so the proposed cost of
$4 per month is likely to be considered a bargain. It will be
interesting to see how much this leads to increased traffic and sales in
these stores overall.
This was an online survey of 2,493 U.S. adults,
ages 18 and older, conducted for The Wall Street Journal Onlines Health
Industry Edition (www.wsj.com/health).
TABLE 1
Where People Go Most Often To Buy Prescription
Drugs
"Where do you go most often to buy
prescription drugs for yourself or a family member? Please select one
answer only."
Base: All adults
|
|
Total |
|
% |
|
Purchase
Prescription Drugs (NET) |
93 |
|
A chain drug
store like Walgreens, CVS or Eckerd |
39 |
|
The pharmacy at
a discount store like Wal-Mart, Target or Sams Club
|
13 |
|
A local
independent pharmacy |
12 |
|
Online or by
mail order |
11 |
|
The pharmacy at
a supermarket like Safeway, Shop Rite or Kroger |
10 |
|
The pharmacy at
a hospital or medical center |
5 |
|
Somewhere else
|
3 |
|
Never purchase
prescription drugs |
7 |
Note: Percentages may not add up
to exactly 100% due to rounding.
TABLE 2
Preference For Generic Or Brand Name Drugs
"If you had a choice between getting a brand name
prescription drug or a generic drug, how often would you choose one over
the other?"
Base: Those who purchase
prescription drugs
|
|
Total |
|
% |
|
Would Choose
Generic More Often (NET) |
68 |
|
I would always
choose to buy generic drugs over brand name |
23 |
|
I would much
more often choose to buy generic drugs than brand name
|
28 |
|
I would
somewhat more often choose to buy generic drugs than brand
name |
17 |
|
Would Choose
Brand Name More Often (NET) |
32 |
|
I would
somewhat more often choose to buy brand name drugs than
generic |
14 |
|
I would much
more often choose to buy brand name drugs than generic
|
10 |
|
I would always
choose to buy brand name prescription drugs over generic
|
9 |
Note: Percentages may not add up
to exactly 100% due to rounding.
TABLE 3
Acceptable Price People Willing To Pay For
30-Day Supply Of Generic Drugs
"What is the most you would be willing to pay
out-of-pocket for a 30-day supply of generic prescription drugs?"
Base: Those who purchase
prescription drugs who would choose to purchase a generic drug
|
|
Total |
|
% |
|
Nothing
|
5 |
|
$10.00 or less
|
40 |
|
$10.01 - $25.00
|
36 |
|
$25.01 - $50.00
|
15 |
|
More than
$50.00 |
5 |
Note: Percentages may not add up to exactly 100% due to rounding.
TABLE 4
Likelihood of Filling Prescriptions With
Generic Drugs From Discount Retailers
"Wal-Mart, Target and Kmart announced that they
will begin selling some generic prescription drugs at discounted
prices in some parts of the country. Wal-Mart and Target will sell a
30-day supply of these drugs for $4.00 and Kmart will sell a 90-day
supply for $15.00. How likely will you be to fill your prescriptions
with generic drugs purchased in these stores?"
Base: Those who purchase
prescription drugs
|
|
Total |
|
% |
|
Absolutely
Certain/Very Likely/Likely (NET) |
50 |
|
Absolutely
certain that I will |
13 |
|
Very likely
|
20 |
|
Likely
|
17 |
|
Not at
All/Somewhat Likely (NET) |
50 |
|
Somewhat likely
|
25 |
|
Not at all
likely |
26 |
Note: Percentages may not add up
to exactly 100% due to rounding.
About The Wall Street Journal Online
The Wall Street Journal Online at WSJ.com,
published by Dow Jones & Company (NYSE: DJ; www.dowjones.com), is the
largest paid subscription news site on the Web. Launched in 1996, the
Online Journal continues to attract quality subscribers that are at the
top of their industries, with 766,000 subscribers world-wide as of Q2,
2006.
About Harris Interactive
Harris Interactive is the 12th largest
and fastest-growing market research firm in the world. The company
provides research-driven insights and strategic advice to help its
clients make more confident decisions which lead to measurable and
enduring improvements in performance. Harris Interactive is widely known
for The Harris Poll, one of the longest running, independent
opinion polls and for pioneering online market research methods.
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