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closeFriday, Jul. 11, 2008
Prescription discount card saved $4M over 15 months
By Chris Mulick, Herald Olympia bureau
OLYMPIA -- More than 82,000 people have signed up for Washington's 15-month-old prescription drug discount card, saving about $4 million.
On average, card users are saving about 40 percent, or $23, on each prescription filled.
More than 151,000 prescriptions have been filled this way.
"We want to get the word out," Gov. Chris Gregoire declared at a news conference Thursday. "It is working."
The card is free and is available to all Washington residents. There are no age or income restrictions. Residents can sign up for it online at www.rx.wa.gov or by calling 800-913-4146.
In 2006, Oregon and Washington teamed to form the Northwest Prescription Drug Purchasing Consortium. That allowed the states to use their collective purchasing power to buy drugs at prices below what residents could find on their own. And people use their discount cards when filling their prescription at a local pharmacy.
"It has been an amazing partnership," Gregoire said.
State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler cautioned that the program is no substitute for having health insurance.
"It isn't a cure-all, it isn't the endpoint but it is an important part to making sure seniors and other individuals dependent on pharmaceuticals are going to be able to get them at a reasonable price," he said.
He said it represents "doing something substantive" to help reduce health care costs that could help make health insurance more affordable.
State Rep. Tom Campbell, R-Roy, called it "a well-thought-out answer to a problem that has been vexing us for a long time."
"We want to get the word out to get people to sign up, to know they can, they should be a part of this program," Gregoire said.
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