North Dakotans pay less than the national average for prescription drugs.

That's a message the North Dakota Pharmacists Association wants to spread as the 2009 North Dakota Legislature begins.

The group is girding for a battle over a North Dakota law that requires pharmacies in the state to be majority-owned by a pharmacist.

A group called North Dakotans for Affordable Healthcare is pushing legislators to repeal the law to open the door to chain-store pharmacies in places like Wal-Mart and Walgreens.

The executive vice president of the Pharmacists Association says the four-dollar-per-month prescriptions that are promoted by such stores don't tell the whole story.

Mike Schwab spoke to Minot's Rotary Club today and said those low-cost prescriptions cover only about five-percent of drugs, and are balanced by higher prices for other drugs.

(Mike Schwab, ND Pharmacists Assoc.) "If you look at the collective price on the whole continum of prescriptions, North Dakota actually provides prescription drugs below the national average and has for a number of years. When talking about access to four dollar prescription programs, a lot of our independents offer very competitive pricing on those products. And at the same time we technically already have four dollar access in the state with CVS operating in Minot, Grand Forks, Fargo, and Bismarck."


CVS Pharmacies do not have to be pharmacist-owned because they were in business in the state when the ownership law went into effect in the 1960s.

The pharmacy ownership law is exptected to be one of the hottest topics of the legislative session that begins tomorrow. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list