Wal-Mart Offers New Drug Program

Wal-Mart's discount prescription drug program will allow customers to get 90-day supplies of some 300 generic prescription drugs through the mail for as little as $10.

Author:: Jeanine Poggi
Publish date:: May 5, 2009 4:20 PM EDT

Retail giant

Wal-Mart

(WMT) - Get Report

could soon come head to head with pharmacy benefit managers.

The discounter said on Tuesday it will begin testing a $10 mail-order drug program, similar to those offered by pharmacy benefit managers, such as

Medco Health Solutions

Wal-Mart's discount prescription drug program will allow customers to get 90-day supplies of some 300 generic prescription drugs through the mail for as little as $10.

The news comes a day after

CVS Caremark

(CVS) - Get Report

reported positive results for a similar program.

Pharmacy benefit managers have been encouraging customers to fill orders through the mail and replace monthly prescriptions with cheaper 90-day orders, since it is both cheaper for consumers and more profitable for benefit managers.

Wal-Mart's program will have no membership or enrollment fees. Wal-Mart will test the program in Michigan.

In 2006, the company launched a program allowing customers to fill a 30-day prescription of a low-cost generic drug for $4.