HEALTH CARE: Rx push is on

By Joyce Miles<br><a href="mailto:milesj@gnnewspaper.com">E-mail Joyce</a>
Greater Niagara Newspapers

NIAGARA FALLS July 20, 2008 12:32 am

— FOR UNINSURED: Drug discount card to get renewed push by Legislature.
By Joyce M. Miles
milesj@gnnewspaper.com
The county Legislature is being asked to give a renewed push to prescription drug discount cards that are available to every Niagara County resident.
The Niagara Rx program has been in place for about four years, but it’s little used. According to Chris Robbins, president of Liberty Care Rx, only about 25 residents currently take advantage of the
program.
“It’s really unfortunate. We need to work with the county to promote it more,” Robbins said.
Niagara Rx cards are available at various county offices, including the health and motor vehicles departments. All a person has to do is take a card, no questions asked, and present it at a participating pharmacy to receive a discount.
The amount of discount varies by the drug, since it’s negotiated by Liberty Care, but there’s no paperwork, no pre-approval process and no membership fee for the card holder.
Robbins said card holders typically are uninsured or underinsured persons, including small-business employees, students and Medicare recipients who face the Part D prescription “donut hole,” a coverage gap in which the recipient has to pay the full cost of drugs.
Card holders can go to a local participating pharmacy to purchase prescriptions — there are about 30 within 10 miles of the 14094 ZIP code alone — or use a mail service program.
Drugs can be mailed from domestic or foreign sources, which tend to be considerably cheaper. Robbins said Liberty Care works only with suppliers in foreign countries that have a U.S. Food and Drug Administration equivalent, such as Canada, New Zealand and Israel. Orders placed abroad are approved by a doctor who is certified in both the United States and the foreign country from which the drug is being ordered, he added, and controlled substances are not available by mail.
It’s the card holder’s choice whether to use a pharmacy or mail service from prescription to prescription. The card holder does have to pay shipping on mail orders, which averages about $15 per parcel, Robbins said. Multiple prescriptions can be shipped in one box.
Liberty Care runs the discount program in seven New York counties — Niagara, Broome, Chemung, Tioga, Westchester, Putnam and Ulster — and touts a statewide average 27.3 percent cost savings on prescriptions.
In Niagara, the discount on Lipitor, a cholesterol fighting drug, is 10 percent. Using the Niagara Rx card, the purchaser of a 90-day mail-ordered supply of 10 mg pills can see a $28 savings, to $238 from $266.
Niagara Rx has been in effect since 2004, when the Legislature sanctioned it and budgeted money to start a Web site, but the program never has been widely used. According to Legislator William Ross, the membership fee that used to be attached, $15 per single person or $26 per family, seemed to discourage it.
Ross said when the program was new, he took pamphlets to meetings and gathering places across his district — and found people didn’t like the idea of having to pay for a discount.
Liberty Care “tweaked” the program about six months ago, by eliminating the membership fee, creating take-away, ready-to-use cards and adding overseas purchase options, Robbins said.
Robbins will be invited to present new-and-improved program details to the Legislature at an upcoming business meeting. He has asked for legislators’ help promoting Niagara Rx to residents again.
For more information about the discount plan, call (877) 321-2652 or visit www.niagararx.com. The Web site lists participating pharmacies and specific drug purchase prices by pharmacy and mail.
Contact reporter Joyce Miles at 439-9222, ext. 6245.