Crist to announce drug discount card

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist will announce a new program Thursday that will help low-income Floridians buy prescription drugs at discount prices, supposedly with a savings averaging 20 to 30 percent, the St. Petersburg Times has learned.

The program, patterned after a similar discount card in Ohio, will be announced at an 11 a.m. news conference in St. Petersburg. The plan would be available to people under 60 who have no other drug insurance and have incomes up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, which is roughly $30,000 for a single person and about $60,000 for a family of four.

People over 60 would qualify with no income restriction, which could help people on Medicare cover some of their out-of-pocket costs through Medicare Part D's infamous "doughnut hole.''

The discount card could be used at more than 7,000 pharmacies statewide.

In Ohio, the state negotiates brand-name discounts from drug manufacturers, then passes those along to people on the program. The state also negotiates with pharmacies to drop their prices on generic drugs. Although 1.2-million Ohio residents are eligible, only about 112,000 have signed up since the program began in 2005, said Roland Hornbostel, a deputy director at the Ohio Department of Aging.

Among other things, seniors may get similar discounts through a Medicare Part D plan and might not take the effort to use the Ohio discount card just to eke out a little additional savings, he said.

Ohio figures card-holders save 34 percent on average from the regular retail price quoted by pharmacies the day people shop, but Hornbostel acknowledged that savings might be a lot less for people who shop around aggressively in other venues. For example, Wal-Mart, Kmart and some grocery store chains sell some generic drugs for $4 or less.

"If you can get a $4 generic or take the OhioBestRx card, by all means take the $4 generic,'' he said.

The Ohio plan covers hundreds of drugs from 27 different manufacturers, he said.

- Stephen Nohlgren, Times staff writer

Comments

[Fritz]

Tell us Chuckie (a/k/a Robin Hood) how much this is going to cost FL taxpayers. It's so easy giving away tax $ but somehow you cannot manage to give those of us who fund your philanthropic activities any meaningful relief. Full of hot air and empty promises. What I fool I was to think I voted for a conservative when I voted for you. Rest assured, I will not make that mistake again.

[Lily]

Three cheers for Wal-Mart. And now they've started selling 3 months of those generics for $10. Wow! For my other meds that aren't generic I use the prescription discount card that I found at www.rxdrugcard.com. Low membership fee. Drug prices posted to check before you join.