May 21st, 2009

Several counties across PA have implemented discount prescription drug cards over the past couple years, and they are receiving accolades from both county officials and the consumers they benefit.

Reports the Daily Item:

“Union County has had a free discount drug program for three years, which has saved users more than $40,000 since then.

Any Union County resident can get the card, one per family, regardless of age, income or existing health coverage.

The prescription drug discount card program is sponsored by the National Association of Counties and administered by Caremark Rx Inc., a provider of prescription drug management programs. The program is administered at no cost to county taxpayers with cards accepted at 90 percent of the county’s pharmacies.

The discount card offers savings for uninsured and under-insured residents of Union County, and even those with prescription drug coverage can use the cards to save money on drugs that are not covered by their health plans.

…

Since the program’s launch, more than 1,500 residents have used the cards, with an average savings per user of $305, according to program officials. That amounts to an average savings of about 19 percent off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs, officials said.”

Noting the success of the program in Union and other counties, Snyder County has become the latest to OK a discount drug program.

Continues the Daily Item:

The Snyder County commissioners, along with Chief Marketing Officer Martin Dettelbach, of Financial Marketing Concepts Inc., of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., introduced the program on Tuesday afternoon at the Selinsgrove CareerLink.

…

Snyder County will receive a royalty of 50 cents per filled prescription whenever the discount card is used.

“Our hope would be to get 2,000 to 4,000 filled a month out of Snyder County,” Dettelbach said, though it may take several months to work up to that total.

For those waiting for some type of a catch, Dettelbach said they won’t find one. “It’s a too-good-to-be-true type of concept,” he said. “The reality is, pharmacies still want traffic coming in.”

…

The discount card most likely will benefit those with no insurance, who pay out-of-pocket, and are in need of an antibiotic prescription, [Terry Trutt, owner of Shade Mountain Pharmacy] said. They will save about 20 percent. On competitive drugs — those taken on a regular basis, such as blood pressure medicine — people will receive less than a 10-percent discount.