Doña Ana County launches drug discount card program
By Diana Alba Soular, Las Cruces Sun-News, N.M. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
To get a discount, which ranges up to 75 percent on some drugs, residents have to pick up a free prescription discount card, soon to be available at several pharmacies, hospitals and local government offices around the county.
County officials said there's no enrollment, and neither consumers or the county are charged a fee to participate in the discount program, called Coast2CoastRx.
County Manager
"It provides a really big discount on probably every prescription you need to have filled," said Brown, during a news conference at the Doña Ana County Government Center.
Brown said the discount card is not only for people on
Also, people don't even necessarily have to be county residents to use the card.
It can be used by people who have private insurance covering prescriptions, though not for the same purchase.
The discount card also can be used to buy pet medications, according to county officials.
"I'll certainly try it and see," she said.
The program already is in place in several other
"Some independents will take it, but your better savings will come from the major chain pharmacies," he said, following the news conference.
The card won't result in a discount for over-the-counter drug purchases, county officials said.
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"The prescription card comes in both English and Spanish," she said.
Coast2CoastRx in a news release indicated the program, rather than charging the county a fee, will pay the county
Asked about how the discount program is supported financially, Barrett said it's in part because pharmacies will see more customer volume, when people who otherwise wouldn't get prescriptions are able to afford them. And when those customers visit a store to get medications, they make other non-prescription related purchases, such as toiletries or groceries.
"The pharmacies look at it as customer retention, loyalty, bringing people into their stores, whereas people might not ever come in because they can't afford prescriptions," he said. "So, offering a discount, is better than nothing at all, so to speak."
The level of discounts vary based off of interactions between the pharmacies and a pharmacy benefit manager,
A pharmacy benefit manager, or PBM, is "kind of the broker between the pharmacies and the pharmaceutical manufacturers," he said.
For more information about the discount cards, call the Doña
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