Antidote to Obamacare and Gov't. Healthcare: Dr. Wal-Mart is Changing the Face of Medicine

COLUMBUS DISPATCH -- "From operating one of the nation's largest optometry businesses to offering in-store retail health clinics to selling $4 prescriptions, Wal-Mart is changing where people get health care.

When Wal-Mart started selling generic medications for $4 for a month's supply, critics said it was just a way to lure more customers. Six years later, that move has changed the way doctors prescribe medications and made the big-box retailer a force in the nation's health-care system.  Most chain pharmacies followed Wal-Mart's lead, saving consumers money on drug costs.  The company says it has saved its customers $3 billion in prescription costs since starting the generic program.

"It's part of this whole wave of getting health care in places where you don't expect," said Ron Galloway, a Georgia-based filmmaker and speaker who speaks nationally about Wal-Mart's influence on the U.S. health system. "Obamacare is going to have people looking for getting primary care in other places than hospitals. And Wal-Mart, they can ramp up quickly."