7/14/2009
FREE Bernalillo County Program to help with Prescription Drug Costs
Prescription cards available at all Bernalillo County Community Centers, UNMH, Presbyterian, Lovelace Health Systems, Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Joy Junction
 Program Targets No Insured or Underinsured in Bernalillo County
Bernalillo County announces the launch of a discount card program to help consumers cope with the high price of prescription drugs. The County is making prescription drug discount cards available under a program sponsored by the National Association of Counties (NACo) that offers average savings of 20 percent off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs.
“The numbers from NACo show that our County residents are under utilizing this valuable benefit,” says Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins. “We are working with UNMH, Presbyterian, Lovelace Health Systems, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Department of Health, Joy Junction, Bernalillo County’s MATS and MDC to immediately distribute 30,000 cards into the hands of our residents. According to the US Census Bureau, 21% of Bernalillo County residents, nearly 120,000 individuals, do not have insurance and that impacts their ability to buy necessary prescriptions.”
The cards may be used by all county residents, regardless of age, income, or existing health coverage, and are accepted at CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens and Riteaid and there is also a national network of more than 59,000 participating retail pharmacies.
“Even those fortunate to have prescription coverage can use the card to save money on drugs that are not covered by their health plan. There are no eligibility requirements for this program,” says Commissioner Stebbins.
Best of all, there is no cost to county taxpayers for NACo and Bernalillo County to make these money saving cards available to our residents. The discount card program is administered by Caremark Rx, Inc.
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