Wal-Mart Low Price Drug Program

I don't see the government helping like this.:

The move marks the third phase of a company program that began in 2006 and has saved customers more than $1 billion, Wal-Mart said.

With the expansion, the company began filling prescriptions Monday for up to 350 generic medications at $10 for a 90-day supply at Wal-Mart, Neighborhood Market and Sam's Club pharmacies in the U.S.

In addition, the company will add several women's medications to its list of prescriptions available for $9, including drugs to treat breast cancer and hormone deficiency.

For instance, alendronate, the generic version of osteoporosis medication Fosamax, will be added to the list. Company pharmacies will fill 30-day prescriptions of alendronate for $9 and a 90-day supply for $24 at a comparison of $54 and $102, respectively, that women previously paid for the same amounts, the company said.

Wal-Mart estimates that their drug program has saved their customers $1 billion since the program's inception in 2006. I don't know how that number is calcualted and it probably inflated, but the fact that so many other retailers have instituted similar programs, the cumulative economic effect cannot be denied.

Only private enterprise can do something like this and expect it to work. If the government wanted to do something like this, it wouldn't work because the regulations themselves would have made the program economically doomed from the beginning.