Rockingham to offer discount drug card

Beginning Oct. 1., Rockingham County residents will have the option of using a discount card to save money on prescription drugs.
The drug discount card, available under a program sponsored by the National Association of Counties, offers average savings of 20 percent off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs. The card will be available to all county residents, regardless of their annual income or existing health insurance plan.
There is no cost to local taxpayers.
Statistics show the card is most often used by the “working poor” and the elderly, said Ginger Waynick, the county’s public information officer. People who may use the cards include recent college graduates without a full-time job and people who have been laid off and lack health insurance.
“There’s a lot of people who fall through the cracks,” she said.
Using the card is easy, Waynick said. There is no eligibility process or enrollment fee, and all cardholders need to do is present the card -- administered by Caremark Rx Inc. -- at a participating pharmacy.
Most county pharmacies are enrolled, Waynick said. The card will also be available at human services agencies in the county, including the Council on Aging, the Free Clinic, the Department of Public Health and the Department of Social Services.
A pharmacist at the Rockingham County Department of Public Health said the majority of the pharmacy’s clients are enrolled in the prescription-assistance program and are already getting their medicine for free. Most of the people who visit the Free Clinic also get free medication free, but some do not meet the eligibility requirements.
“If they do not meet our eligibility requirements, we would certainly recommend the use of the card,” said Leslie Deaton, executive director of the Free Clinic of Rockingham County. “It’s nice to have another resource.”
The majority of uninsured families in North Carolina are working families. Deaton said most are working hourly, low-wage jobs and don’t have enough money to pay their bills, buy groceries and take care of their health. She called the NACo prescription drug card “one more piece of the puzzle” in helping needy Rockingham County residents.
Detra Morton, pharmacist director for the Council on Aging, said the card will help seniors who fall in the coverage gap or seniors who need medicine that their Medicare Part D plan does not cover.
“They would be using this on drugs that they’re paying for out-of-pocket, for whatever reason,” said Morton. “This is not going to be enough of a discount to take the place of Medicare Part D.”
Waynick believes the card will help county residents who don’t have adequate access to health care. She estimated between 30 percent and 40 percent of North Carolina counties offer the card.
Information on obtaining the card will be announced in the coming weeks.
Staff Writer Miranda Baines can be reached at mbaines@reidsvillereview.com or 349-4331, ext. 35.