As Fears of a ‘Pharmacy Desert’ Spread, Walmart Announces Same-Day Drug Delivery

Walmart announced this week that it’s launching a same-day prescription delivery service. The program is currently available in six states — Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Nevada, South Carolina and Wisconsin — with plans to become available in 49 states by January of next year. 

The company, which has continued to expand its pharmacy services in recent years, said that its “extensive existing footprint across the US” enables Walmart to deliver to more than 86% of households in the US. It will allow customers to combine general store items and medication in one at-your-door order. 

Walmart’s announcement comes on the heels of pharmacies across the country closing stores, fueling fears of a “pharmacy desert” where people don’t have close access to a brick-and-mortar pharmacy where they live. It also comes shortly after Amazon, another retail giant stepping into the health care market, announced it’s expanding its own same-day drug delivery service, and a growing reliance on online pharmacy and medical services. 

What to know about Walmart’s same-day delivery service 

Walmart said that customers will be able to add prescriptions in the Walmart app or online. A scheduled, same-day prescription delivery will be free for Walmart Plus members, with a delivery charge of $10 for everyone else. Insurance plans will be applied to the order just like in-store, Walmart said in its news release. 

Coming soon, Walmart said customers will be given the option to receive their delivery “on demand” or through “express delivery,” in just 30 minutes. 

Walmart’s same-day delivery service can’t be used for certain medications, including controlled substances (Adderall or other stimulants, for example), those that need refrigeration and medications covered by Medicare Part B. 

Why are so many pharmacies closing? 

Reports of pharmacies closing have been making waves. Walgreens announced this month that it’s closing 1,200 stores over the next three years and about 500 in the fiscal year of 2025. 

CVS told Good Housekeeping that it’s in the process of closing about 300 stores in 2024. Rite Aid is also continuing to close stores, according to different media reports. Those reports don’t account for the independent, smaller drugstores that may have closed as well. 

A New York Times report on drugstores going out of business has pointed toward the role of pharmacy benefit managers underpaying smaller or independent pharmacies as one reason for the closures. Similarly, as USA Today reported, independent pharmacies that serve many Medicare and Medicaid patients may be reimbursed at lower rates. 

As CNN reported, financial struggles hitting smaller pharmacy stores may also include the fact that consumers are increasingly buying front-of-house items (i.e. not medication) from big retailers like Amazon and Walmart. 

While many people will be served through telemedicine and prescription-delivery services that don’t require an in-office or in-store visit, pharmacy stores are considered the easiest way to get some preventive health care, such as vaccines. Going to a neighborhood pharmacy may also be an easier way to access medications for those who don’t like using technology to fill their prescriptions. 

Rural areas and communities with less access to health care may be hit hardest by a pharmacy desert. These communities with more “social vulnerability,” as described in a JAMA Network Open article, may also have higher rates of disease that require medication and access to health care.