Meijer Passes 1M Mark on Pre-natal Scrips

Meijer’s free pre-natal vitamins prescription program has filled its millionth prescription, at a cost savings of nearly $14 million to Midwest families.

The announcement came as the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer reported its pharmacies had hit the million-mark milestone earlier this week.

Meijer gave birth to the program in May 2008 when it announced it would fill select pre-natal vitamin prescriptions at no cost to customers. The no-strings-attached program enables any customer, regardless of insurance or co-pay, to have their pre-natal prescription filled free of charge.

“Meijer has always been a strong advocate for safe and healthy families, and we’re very proud to offer a program that works to ensure the health of an expectant mother and her child,” said Hank Meijer, co-chairman and CEO. “In addition, offering free pre-natal vitamins helps Midwest families cope with rising health care costs, complementing the many other ways families can save money throughout our stores.”

Prior to launching its free pre-natal vitamins initiative, Meijer successfully introduced a program in October 2006 offering to fill select antibiotics at no charge. That program, still in use, covers leading oral generic antibiotics with a special focus on the prescriptions most often filled for children.

Meijer followed up its free pre-natal program in 2010 with a similar program providing no-cost prescriptions for metformin, the most commonly prescribed drug for type 2 diabetes.

Since its inception, the Meijer free antibiotics program has filled more than 7 million prescriptions, saving families almost $120 million. The free metformin program has helped nearly 500,000 people battle diabetes, at a cost savings of more than $4 million.

“In less than five years, our free antibiotics, pre-natal and diabetes prescription programs have saved our customers nearly $140 million,” Meijer said. “In total, we have helped hundreds of thousands of people throughout the Midwest receive free prescriptions to help them, and their families, lead healthier lives.”

The Meijer free pre-natal vitamins program features several well-known brands of pre-natal vitamins, including TriAdvance, Trinatal GT, Trinatal Ultra, Vol-Nate, Vol-Plus, and Vol-Tab.

Meijer operates 196 supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.