Southaven, MS—
FAST FACTS:
- DeSoto offers drug discount card in March of 09
- Nothing to sign up for
- Over 400 users as of Feburary
dennis.turner@wreg.com
(Southaven, MS 3/30/2010) DeSoto Countians are saving on their medical costs, and it has nothing to do with the recent law passed in Washington.
In fact, it's a local initiative that, in some cases, saves people hundreds a month.
We told you about this discount program last year when it began in DeSoto. Since then, DeSoto Countians have become among the heaviest users of this important discount program.
Healthcare bill or not, medical costs keep going up, especially the cost of prescription drugs.
That's why Johnny Reed likes the idea of a special DeSoto Discount. "I think it's great. You need to save every penny you can." said Reed who lives in rural DeSoto.
Last year, DeSoto joined a prescription discount program from the National Association of Counties, which offers free cards that can get you discounts on many common prescription drugs.
One year later, DeSoto is now the number two user of the discounts in the state, behind Jackson County down around Pascagoula.
The cards save you money on lots of prescriptions but get this; it can also save you a lot more if you combine your discounts from drug companies and retailers, perhaps even your insurance company, if you have insurance.
And those savings can be huge according to Vanessa Lynchard with DeSoto County Government. "There was a lady that came in who was on Medicare and she had like sic prescriptions and this saved her money on two of them. The average drugs was twenty percent but in her case, it was very close to one hundred dollars or so that it was gonna save her."
On prescriptions we sampled, savings ran about ten bucks, about average for all claims in DeSoto.
At Southaven's Oliver Pharmacy, one of forty in the County that takes the card, employees say folks use it a lot.
In just the last twelve months, the DeSoto program has grown from just over forty users, to four hundred.
Reed says it would save him lots. "Many drugs as I take right now, quite a bit."
The cards are available at government buildings, many schools and churches, and the DeSoto Administrator's office.
For more information, call 662-429-1463.
