Drug discounts are in the mail

ALBANY

After more than a year in the works, county officials on Monday mailed out discount prescription drug cards -- free of charge and with no strings attached -- that can be used at most pharmacies.

Whether you live in the upscale neighborhoods or the poorer ones, a card is being sent to your household. Distributed by ProAct, a pharmacy benefit management company, the cards have no names and can be used by every member in the family, regardless of age or income.

The card also can be used for pets if the family dog or cat needs prescription medication, County Executive Mike Breslin said.

The card will provide discounts ranging from 10 to 20 percent on brand-name drugs and 20 to 70 on generic drugs. ProAct is paying to send the cards to 128,404 mailboxes.

"It will have a huge impact for those who most desperately need it," Breslin said at a morning news conference at the Harold L. Joyce Albany County Office Building.

"It will be particularly valuable for individuals and families who are uninsured and underinsured," he said. The cards are a "no-hassle way to save money."

Frank Commisso, the County Legislature's Democratic majority leader, took a stack of the cards to pass out to students at the University at Albany, which is in his legislative district.

For those with health insurance that covers prescription drugs, Breslin's advice is to ask the pharmacist which "is the better deal" -- in other words, which card brings the most savings.

Cohoes Legislator Shawn Morse initiated legislation approving the card. He cited the benefits -- no cost to taxpayers and a "help to those who are struggling with the economy." He suggested paying attention to the mail. The card is not junk mail, he said.

Lawmakers authorized the cards at their meeting Monday night.

For more than a year, the legislature searched for the best program and found ProAct "in which the county pays nothing and residents are the winners," Morse said.

Albany Legislator Lucille McKnight has been pushing for the ProAct plan since 2006 when she was president of the New York State Association of Counties, which endorsed the pharmacy management company. Albany joins 27 other counties that distribute the discount drug card.

The card will benefit "the sick, frail, elderly, unemployed and underemployed," she said. Her district, much of which is the South End neighborhood, consists of "so many low-income residents, many who don't have health insurance and don't qualify for Medicaid."

David Warner, president of the East Syracuse-based ProAct, said the program began in 2005 in St. Lawrence County, and this month marks the "millionth script filled" at a savings of $20 million to those participating.

Warner said 56,000 pharmacies nationwide accept the card. No enrollment forms, membership fees or income requirements are needed, he said.

For information, contact ProAct at (877) 776-2285 or go to www.proactrx.com.

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