Meijer prescription program surpasses $500M customer savings milestone

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Meijer pharmacies’ prescription program this month surpassed the $500 million milestone in savings for customers. The program, launched in Oct. 2006, has filled nearly 40 million free prescriptions in the past 10-plus years.

“We’re proud that we’ve helped millions of families improve their health and wellbeing without impacting their budgets,” Meijer President and CEO Rick Keyes said. “Providing these solutions for the customers who rely on our pharmacies is part of our commitment to the communities we serve.”    

The retailer’s free prescription program is intended to help ensure the health of families and individuals by enabling Meijer customers, regardless of insurance or co-pay, to have their prescriptions filled. The program began by covering leading oral generic antibiotics, with a special focus on the prescriptions most often filled for children. The program expanded over the years by offering free prenatal vitamins in May 2008, metformin, the most commonly prescribed drug for type 2 diabetes, in 2010, and the generic substitute for Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium), the cholesterol lowering medication, in 2012.

The most popular free prescription filled at Meijer has been the generic cholesterol lowering medication. In 2016, Meijer pharmacy customers filled more than 3.2 million atorvastatin calcium prescriptions, followed by more than 1.4 million metformin prescriptions, more than 1.3 million antibiotics, and more than 480,000 free prenatal vitamin prescriptions

“Meijer is a family-owned company committed to meeting the needs of families in the communities we serve,” said Jason Beauch, VP of Pharmacy Merchandising. “We do this by providing positive solutions to everyday problems, which includes access to necessary medications. We are pleased this program is used by so many families across the Midwest.”