Agency: Scott County drug discount program saved people $320,979

Font Size:

By Kurt Allemeier | Thursday, October 2, 2008 8:51 PM CDT | () comments

A drug discount program started by Scott County a year ago has saved residents $320,979 on 36,764 prescriptions, according to information released by the agency that administers it.

The county released the prescription discount cards through the National Association of Counties, or NACO, in September 2007. In the first month, more than 800 users received discounts. In August, the number of users doubled to 1,687.

The county’s current number of users far surpasses other counties in the state that also use the program. Polk County had 113 users in August, and Johnson County had 441.

“It is really impressive,” Jim Hancock, chairman of the Scott County Board of Supervisors, said. “It surprised me that we were head and shoulders above the other counties, even the populous counties.”

Hancock said the county promoted the program heavily when the cards were first made available, helping with the cards’ popularity.

“We went to all the city councils and groups like CASI,” he said. “We marketed it and got it out there, and people are using it.”

Supervisor Larry Minard learned about the program and brought it back to the board after attending a NACO conference.

County Administrator Ray Wierson praised Chris Berge, administrative assistant to the Board of Supervisors.

“She really took this task on at the board’s request,” he said. “She did a lot of outreach by phone and personal visits to drug stores and agencies where we have the cards and dropped them off personally.”

The board hopes that touting the program’s successes after one year will help renew interest.

“Maybe people’s situations have changed with the financial situation or they’ve lost health insurance,” Wierson said.

Kurt Allemeier can be contacted at (563) 383-2360 or kallemeier@qctimes.com.