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Walmart plans to deliver prescriptions nationwide in as little as 30 minutes
Walmart will begin delivering prescriptions across the U.S. early next year, as the retailing giant strives to keep pace with rival Amazon in competing for health care dollars.
Walmart’s new service includes new prescriptions and refills, which customers can receive along with groceries and other products, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based company announced on Tuesday. Prescriptions will be delivered in as little as 30 minutes and should be available for over 86% of American households, according to Walmart.
The offering is already live in Arkansas, Missouri, New York, Nevada, South Carolina and Wisconsin, and is expected to be available in 49 states by the end of January, reaching tens of millions of customers.
“If you’re sick, we can deliver the necessary medicine along with everything else you need to feel better: cough drops, a heating pad, blanket and orange juice. Walmart’s size, resources and expertise set it apart from other retailers.” Tom Ward, executive vice president and chief ecommerce officer, Walmart U.S., said in a statement.
The new offering will come at no cost for customers of Walmart+, the retailer’s paid membership program. The service will otherwise cost $9.95 per order. Prescriptions will be filled at Walmart stores and delivered to homes in tamper-proof packaging.
Walmart, which operates almost 4,600 in-store pharmacies, also offers prescription drug delivery through mail order. Notably, medications that need to be refrigerated, as well as controlled drugs such as opioids, are not included in the treatments available for home delivery.
Walmart’s effort to expand in online health comes two weeks after Amazon said it would open pharmacies in 20 new cities across the U.S. in 2025, with the ecommerce company expecting to offer same-day prescription service to nearly half of its U.S. customers by the end of next year. “
CVS and Walgreens already offer same-day home delivery for prescription medications.
Pharmacies, both independent locations and retail chains, are closing around the country amid low reimbursement rates for pharmacy care as well as low dispensing fees for Medicaid enrollees.
Nearly half of U.S. counties have communities more than 10 miles from a pharmacy, according to a study published in August by the Journal of American Medical Association. In addition to community drugstores disappearing, major drug store chains such as CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens have closed hundreds of pharmacy locations across the country.
Most recently, Walgreens last week said it would close 1,200 stores over the next three years, citing low drug reimbursement rates as one factor behind the overhaul.
Attention American Airlines passengers! If you’re one of those overeager travelers who jumps the queue by boarding before your assigned group, the carrier is coming for you.
American Airlines told CBS MoneyWatch that it’s piloting technology that alerts gate agents when customers try to board planes prematurely, meaning before their assigned boarding group has been instructed to line up at the gate. Such passengers’ boarding passes will trigger an audible sound and display a message to gate agents. They will not be permitted to board and will instead be instructed to wait their turns.
“We are in the early phase of testing new technology used during the boarding process,” the airline said in a statement. “The new technology is designed to ensure customers receive the benefits of priority boarding with ease and helps improve the boarding experience by providing greater visibility into boarding progress for our team.”
“Some people are taking advantage”
The trial has been underway for several weeks at Albuquerque International Sunport in New Mexico, Tucson International Airport in Arizona and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia. So far, the results have been positive, an airline spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch.
Customers pay for early-boarding privileges, or earn them by obtaining elite status with a particular airline. So passengers who haven’t paid for the perks and cut the line can anger others, adding to the frustrations of flying.
“Some people are taking advantage of the situation because there is no automated process, and you can in theory board with any group,” said Scott Keyes, founder of flight deals site Going.com.
Still, Keyes understands why passengers might want to skip lines to board early.
“The most important perk you get with early boarding is access to overhead bin space,” Keyes said, noting that passengers that board later often have no choice but to gate check their bags, which can be inconvenient. They don’t have access to their belongings in-flight and wait for their luggage to be returned to them at their destinations.
American Airlines did note that with the new system, gate agents still retain some discretion over the boarding process. For example, if members of a family or a group that is traveling together are in different boarding groups, a gate agent can allow the customer in a later group to board with their companions.
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Giuliani must turn over Manhattan apartment, other valuables to election workers he defamed, judge says
Ten months after a jury awarded two Georgia election workers nearly $150 million in a defamation lawsuit brought against Rudy Giuliani, a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the former attorney to Donald Trump must fork over his luxurious New York apartment and other valuables.
Giuliani, who rose to fame in the 1980s and 1990s as a federal prosecutor and mayor of New York City, has seven days to turn over his possessions to a receivership controlled by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss. Giuliani spread conspiracy theories targeting the ballot counters after Trump lost the 2020 election.
Giuliani has previously tried to sell the apartment for about $6 million.
In his 24-page order, Judge Lewis Liman also ruled that Freeman and Moss should be the beneficiaries of some $2 million that Giuliani has said Trump’s 2020 campaign owes him. Other valuables he must turn over include more than two dozen high-end watches, a jersey signed by New York Yankees Hall of Famer Joe Dimaggio, furniture and other sports memorabilia.
Liman deferred judgment on whether Freeman and Moss are owed a trio of World Series rings that Giuliani’s son, Andrew, has said belong to him. Liman also declined to rule on whether Giuliani must turn over a condo in Palm Beach, Florida.
Giuliani has been disbarred in New York and Washington, D.C., and the fallout from his 2020 post-election actions has continued even as Trump is just two weeks away from an election that could see him retake the White House.
Giuliani no longer works for Trump directly, but in September 2023, the former president hosted a fundraiser at his New Jersey golf club to aid Giuliani’s legal bills.
A spokesperson for Giuliani did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
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