Published: April 20, 2008 01:29 am            

United Way offers free discount drug card

PALESTINE — A new free prescription card available locally promises to help make medicine more affordable for the public, regardless of income level or insurance coverage.

East/Central Texas United Way is offering “FamilyWize” prescription drug cards free to the public, said Wendy Grantz, Executive Director of the East/Central Texas United Way, with the intent to help the public save an average of 35 percent on prescription medications.

“There are no age restrictions, no income restrictions, no limit on how many times you can use it and no waiting to get a card,” Grantz said.

The idea is to help people better afford the medications they need, she said.

“We wanted to make it as easy as possible for people in our community to save on prescription drugs. Too many people have insufficient or no prescription coverage or need medications not covered by their insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or VA benefits,” Grantz said.

According to information from the United Way, one out of every five people in the United States has no prescription coverage.

To help lower that figure, East/Central Texas United Way has joined with 550 United Ways in all 50 states in lowering the cost of prescription medication for people who need help with their prescription costs and is coordinating the distribution of the cards locally.

According to the United Way and HealthWize, this partnership is saving over $1 million every month with a goal of saving $100 million over the next five years, with more than 4 million cards distributed and a savings of over $7 million to date.

Locally, Grantz said the FamilyWize cards are accepted at CVS Pharmacy, 2202 Crockett Rd., 903-729-6055; Kroger Pharmacy, 325 E. Spring St., 903-729-5362; Wal-Mart Supercenter, 2223 S. Loop 256, 903-723-0685; Walgreen Pharmacy, 2201 S. Loop 256, 903-723-4705; Brookshire’s Pharmacy, 2107 S. Loop 256, 903-723-1092; Hometown Pharmacy, 101 Medical Dr., 903-729-3100; Bratton’s West Pharmacy, 2305 W. Oak St., 903-731-4734; and in Frankston at Maxwell Pharmacy, 626 N. Highway 155, 903-876-2323.

“It’s truly amazing what we can accomplish when we all work together. So many people and organizations have joined together to make this possible,” Grantz said.

The savings is made possible because of the more than 53,000 participating local pharmacies that have agreed voluntarily to accept prices for medications that are close to the prices they make available to large insurance companies and employers, according to the United Way and FamilyWize.

All other program costs, including materials, printing, shipping, programming, distribution, reporting, administration, network pharmacy services and customer service are provided by in-kind donations from the program sponsors and by part of the processing fee included in the cost of the medicine.

Two Pennsylvania printers — Independent Graphics of Pittston and Brown Printing of Bethlehem — donated the printing for the cards, Fed Ex donated the shipping of the cards and the pharmacy benefit manager provided a portion of the processing to cover the administrative costs.

“We hope everyone in the community will thank their pharmacist, East/Central Texas United Way, and everyone else involved for the difference they are making in the lives of so many people in the community,” said Dan Barnes, Co-Chair, The FamilyWize Community Service Partnership.

The East/Central Texas United Way is a community impact and fundraising organization which, utilizing volunteers on all levels, identifies unmet community needs and seeks to alleviate those needs through East/Central Texas United Way initiatives and the funding of 13 affiliated health and human service agencies. It serves Anderson, Freestone, Limestone and Leon counties.

For more information, call East/Central Texas United Way at 903-727-8798 or visit FamilyWize online at www.FamilyWize.org.

        

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