And although some pocketbooks will benefit, in some cases there will be no added savings.

The plan, similar to programs unveiled by Wal-Mart and Target in recent years, is good at all 47 Smith's pharmacies statewide.

The program first appeared in 24 Smith's pharmacies in New Mexico in late 2006, around the time Wal-Mart Stores rolled out its own plan that provides 30-day supplies of 360 prescription drugs for $4.

Last month, Smith's expanded its effort to include 40 Smith's pharmacies in Nevada. This week, all the rest of the Smith's stores - in Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming - signed on, as well.

Smith's would not provide any information about specific costs savings on individual drugs. But their officials insist that the plan provides real savings on a wide variety of drugs.

Included on the list are popular drugs such as Warfarin, a generic form of the blood clot-prevention medicine Coumadin, and Albuterol, used by people with asthma.

"This is not an obscure list [of drugs]," said Smith's spokeswoman Marsha Gilford. "These are widely prescribed generics. And this is a significant, across-the-board savings."

Gilford said more than half of the company's customers are taking one or more drugs on the $4 list.

There are plenty of critics of $4 drug plans, which are touted for their benefits to people with health insurance coverage and who have to pay cash for their drugs.

Independent pharmacists such as Kort Delost, owner of Medicine Shoppe pharmacy in Bountiful, said customers shouldn't automatically assume the program offers savings on prescriptions they take.

For example, Delost said he charges $10 for a 100-day supply 10mg Amitriptyline, a generic form of the antidepressant Elavil.

Under the Smith's plan, consumers would pay more at a Smith's pharmacy to get less of the drug: $12 for a 90-day supply.

It is a different matter for Levothyroxine, a thyroid medicine. A 30-day supply for 200 mcg Levothyroxine would cost $12.95 at Delost's pharmacy, $4 at Smith's.

But Delost warns that to make up the losses on some drugs, Smith's, Wal-Mart and Target could charge higher prices on some other generics not on the $4 list or for brand-name drugs.

"They've got to make money somewhere," Delost said. If they are taking a loss on some generics, they're going to have to charge more for brand names and other generics not on the list. Or they'll have to make it up in another area of the store."

But such programs have their fans - the most ardent of whom are people who don't have health insurance coverage and are paying more for the same drugs that now will cost $4.

Brenda O'Neal, who fills her prescriptions at a Smith's location in Midvale, said some of the drugs she and her husband take aren't on the $4 list. But some, such as those for asthma and heart problems are, which should save her more than $200 a month in prescription costs.

O'Neal is on medical leave from work, so the couple cannot afford health insurance coverage at the moment.

"This is awesome," she said. "This means we can buy more food every month."

lesley@sltrib.com''