Residents in most areas of the state can get discounts of about 20 percent on prescription drugs through the Kentucky Association of Counties.
The program offers discount cards that apply to most drugs at more than 1,000 pharmacies in Kentucky, including many national chains, said Bob Arnold, the association's executive director.
About two-thirds of the state's 120 counties have signed up for the program since the association made it available last month, Arnold said.
In the Louisville area, Bullitt, Shelby and Spencer counties have joined the program, while Oldham County doesn't plan to.
Louisville metro government expects to join once officials decide how best to distribute the cards to people who need them, said Chad Carlton, spokesman for Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson.
The discount program was started last year by the National Association of Counties. The state association made it available to all Kentucky counties recently by paying their dues to join the national group. That cost about $73,000, Arnold said.
There is no cost to a consumer to take part in the program. There are no forms to fill out and no age or income requirements. A family is covered by one card.
Arnold said the cards probably will be most beneficial to people without health insurance. But others could find them useful -- for example, if their insurance doesn't cover a certain drug.
Caremark Rx, a pharmaceutical services company, administers the program. Discounts range from about 13 percent to 34 percent, according to the National Association of Counties.
Bullitt County started distributing discount cards Monday through the county judge-executive's office, the county health department, and city halls in Mount Washington, Hillview and Lebanon Junction.
At The Medicine Shoppe in Shepherdsville, pharmacy technician Crystal Akridge said the first four or five customers to use the cards were uninsured.
"It saved them anywhere from a couple of dollars to half the cost," Akridge said. "If I didn't have insurance, I'd get a card."
But Oldham County Judge-Executive Mary Ellen Kinser said her county won't take part because much cheaper drugs are available elsewhere.
She cited Wal-Mart's program to fill many prescriptions for $4 and Meijer Inc.'s giveaway of several common antibiotics. The Wal-Mart program isn't available in Kentucky yet.
Labels: No Prescription, Online Pharmacy, Prescription Drugs
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