Meijer Delivers One Million Free Pre-Natal Vitamin Prescriptions to Women Throughout the Midwest

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., June 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Delivering a healthy dose of good news to Midwest families, Meijer announced today that its free pre-natal vitamins prescription program has filled its 1,000,000th prescription, at a cost savings of nearly $14 million to Midwest families.

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The announcement, made by Hank Meijer, Co-Chairman and CEO, came as the Midwest retailer reported that 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 Meijer.  "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."

It has been shown that pre-natal vitamins play an important role in healthy pregnancies and healthy babies.  These supplements have typically been prescribed for women who have become pregnant, however, many members of the medical community believe they also play an important role for women in the months leading up to conception.  

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.  

The Michigan-based retailer 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 seven 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," said Meijer.  "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.

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About Meijer

Meijer is a Grand Rapids, Mich.-based retailer that operates 196 supercenters and grocery stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. As the inventor of the "one-stop shopping" concept, Meijer stores have evolved through the years to include expanded fresh produce and meat departments, as well as pharmacies, comprehensive electronics departments, garden centers and apparel offerings. Additional information on Meijer and the ability to shop for more can be found at www.meijer.com.

SOURCE Meijer, Inc.