A Wal-Mart Stores Inc. representative offered a proposal to a state Medicaid reform panel that would make the chain Alabama's main provider of drugs through Medicaid.
Members of the Alabama Medicaid Pharmacy Study Commission heard the proposal Thursday. Panel members were appointed by Gov. Robert Bentley to look for ways to save money on drugs dispensed through Medicaid, the state and federal medical insurance program.
Wal-Mart representative Kevin McCarter proposed that Wal-Mart become the main dispenser of Medicaid drugs. He said 78 percent of Alabama's Medicaid patients live within 10 miles of a Walmart store.
State Rep. Jim McClendon, a Republican from Springville on the panel, said officials want to save money, but also want to look at the impact on the community.