Ascension residents may get discount cards
Print
Email
Save
Reprints
Twitter
Share
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
GONZALES — Ascension Parish residents may receive free prescription drug discount cards starting Monday from participating pharmacies throughout the parish, officials said this week.
The cards are part of a national program that comes through an agreement that the National Association of Counties established with CVS Caremark five years ago, NACO officials have said.
Regardless of age, income or level of insurance, all parish residents are eligible for cards and their average discount of 22 percent off the retail cost of prescription drugs.
“We are pleased to help our citizens deal with the high cost of prescription drugs with this program and encourage them to begin using it as soon as the cards are available,” Ascension Parish President Tommy Martinez said in a statement.
Ascension Parish government recently signed a contract with NACO to participate in the program, making parish government the 17th in Louisiana to do so, parish spokesman Scott Rabalais said in a statement.
More than one-third of the counties and parishes in the nation use the program, which has used its purchasing power to save users $195 million since the program began, NACO officials have said.=
The card discounts can also be used to save on medicines not covered by private insurance or Medicare, as well as pet medications offered by pharmacies, Rabalais said.
But the cards’ discount cannot be used in addition to what is already discounted by insurance.
More than 59,000 participating retail pharmacies nationwide honor the cards, including most in the parish, such as Walmart, Landry’s and Fred’s, parish officials said.
The cards require no enrollment form and have no membership fee or restriction on use, Rabalais said.
Cardholders and their family members may use the card, he said.
Parish officials said the card plan has no cost to taxpayers.
CVS Caremark, which is part of the CVS drug store chain, is a middleman between drug makers and pharmacies.
 | ||||
| Most Popular | Most Emailed | Hot Topics | ||
