Prescription discount cards available in June

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

For those without health insurance or policies that don't always cover prescriptions, there's some good news on the horizon.

The Larimer County commissioners have adopted a national plan for discounted prescription drugs, and anyone in the county is eligible to participate. The program, which should be ready to roll in June, will help citizens cope with the high price of prescription drugs.

All a person will need is a discount card, and these will be available free at many locations throughout the county. The card will provide discounts averaging 20 percent at participating pharmacies, but only for those prescriptions not covered by health insurance. The program is primarily geared to the uninsured and underinsured, explained Wynette Reed, Larimer County's human resources director.

The county has ordered 70,000 discount cards and will reorder them as needed.

The actual discount is provided by each pharmacy, and any pharmacy may enroll in the program. Reed said pharmacies choose to participate because of the additional foot traffic generated by the discount program.

Reed emphasized that the discount card is not a form of insurance. Any county resident is eligible to participate, regardless of age, income or existing health coverage.

People enrolled in Medicare Part D may also use the program, and it can be used for household pets' prescriptions if the drugs were developed for human use. The program also covers many diabetes supplies.

The discount program is sponsored by the National Association of Counties and administered by Caremark Rx Inc. A national network of more than 57,000 retail pharmacies will honor the card. According to Reed, a few other counties in Colorado have already implemented the program.

Larimer County Commissioner Kathay Rennels pushed hard for the county's participation in the program. "This is very exciting to me," she said, noting that local taxpayers pay for NACo membership and now will benefit directly from that membership.

"The NACo prescription discount card will offer significant savings for the uninsured and underinsured residents of our county, and even those fortunate enough to have prescription coverage may use the card to save money on drugs that are not covered by their health plan," Rennels said.

Commissioner Randy Eubanks noted that the card will be very easy to use. "There is no enrollment form, no membership fee and no restrictions or limits on frequency of use," he said.

Kathy Snell, director of the county's Department of Health and Human Services, said she will ask local nonprofit agencies to help distribute the discount cards to their clients.

The county will announce at a later date where residents may obtain the discount cards.