The Wal-Mart Effect Comes To Health Care

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Investors Business Daily:

Health Care: Giant discounter Wal-Mart says it will soon offer vaccinations for a wide variety of ailments. Can the "Wal-Mart Effect," which has helped slash U.S. inflation, do the same thing for soaring health care costs?

Everyone knows Wal-Mart has been a positive influence on inflation. A few years back, the highly respected National Bureau of Economic Research even estimated that the government's consumer inflation data were overstated by about 15%, due largely to the unrecognized impact of Wal-Mart's everyday low prices on the economy.

A separate 2007 study by the investment advisory and forecasting firm Global Insight estimated that in 2006, Wal-Mart's low prices saved consumers roughly $287 billion — or about $2,501 per household. The impact — especially on low-income consumers — has been enormous.

John Tierney, a New York Times columnist, even suggested that Wal-Mart receive a Nobel prize for helping to pull so many people out of poverty.

Well, the retail giant may be at it again —this time in health care. As reported last week, it's expanding customer offerings into vaccines. That's right, vaccines.