FRANKFORT, KY (October 30, 2006) -- Citing possible annual state-wide savings of thousands of dollars on prescription drugs for Kentuckians, the Kentucky Association of Counties (KACo) has announced that all counties in the Commonwealth are eligible to distribute Prescription Discount Cards to their residents.
The cards can be used by individuals that do not have insurance coverage for prescription medications, as well as in situations where their insurance does not cover a particular drug. Residents will not have to fill out any forms or register in any way to receive their free card and begin saving money on their prescription medications. There are no age, health or income restrictions on who can use the discount cards.
The discount card program is sponsored by the National Association of Counties (NACo) for its members. KACo made participation in the program possible by paying the NACo annual membership dues on behalf of Kentucky's 120 counties. As a result, every county in Kentucky can now make the free discount cards available to their residents.
"By participating in the program, county officials in Kentucky can save the resident of the county an average of 21 percent off the full retail price of most commonly prescribed drugs without any cost to the county or the participant," Tony Wilder, president of KACo said. "This is something that county officials can do at the local level to assist their constituents that are among the estimated 600,000 Kentuckians without health insurance coverage."
Wilder emphasized that there are no costs to the county, county taxpayers or consumers to participate. Neither the county, KACo, nor NACo receive any financial benefit from participation in the program. This was an important factor to KACo in deciding to make this program available to its member counties.
The free cards will be distributed at local health departments and other locations through the sponsoring counties and may be used at any participating retail pharmacy or through the program's mail order service. More than 1000 pharmacies in Kentucky accept the NACo/KACo card, including many local pharmacies and national chains such Wal-Mart, Rite-Aid, CVS, Walgreens, Eckerd, Kmart and Kroger. The program is administered by Caremark Rx, Inc, a leading pharmaceutical services company based in Nashville, TN.
NACo Executive Director Larry Naake said that "Participant response to the program has been overwhelmingly positive." Through the end of September, 2006, residents in participating counties across the country have used the card to fill over 1.2 million prescriptions since the inception of the program in early 2005, which calculates to a savings of more than $14.3 million off the normal retail price for those purchased medications.
"The prescription discount card program is a wonderful opportunity for county government to give back to the community," said KACo's Wilder. "It shows that government can play and active role in helping people try to help themselves."
Click Here for the Program Overview