DRUG COMPETITION -- "BIG-BOX STYLE"

Research shows that the price of identical generic drugs is 115 percent higher on average in Canada than in the United States. In September of 2006, U.S.-based Wal-Mart launched an innovative prescription drug plan that allowed customers to buy a 30-day supply of prescription drugs for only $4:

• The Wal-Mart plan covers 361 generic prescription drugs.
• Wal-Mart claims that the $4 prescription drug program has saved consumers and their insurers more than $1 billion nationwide.

Canada cannot reap the benefits of a competitive market for generic prescription drugs because of the reimbursement policies of the government-run, publicly-funded drug plans.

Wal-Mart's drug program should provide Canadian policy makers [and us] with a simple lesson: prescription drug policies that allow price competition through market forces improves consumers access to drugs while lowering their cost.

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