As lawmakers continue to debate potential health care plans on Capitol Hill, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has approved a program that will give all county residents free access to discounted prescription drugs.
On July 14, the board voted unanimously to establish a free prescription discount card program. The card, which is available to all county residents and employees, doesn’t act as a form of medical insurance. It’s designed to save under- or uninsured people up to 65 percent on generic and brand name prescriptions.
“We think it’s a really exciting program, especially in these economic times,” said Geri Muth, Santa Barbara County’s assistant human resources director.
Muth said the card will also help people who are insured but are paying high deductibles.
“[People will] be able to use the cards any time they normally would be paying out of pocket for prescriptions,” she said.
According to information provided by county staffers, the card will be accepted at more than 58,000 local, regional, and national pharmacies, and covers more than 60,000 prescription drugs.
The program comes at no cost to the county. Instead, officials at Financial Marketing Concepts—the company
running the program—say it will provide the county with revenue each time prescription drugs are purchased using the discount card at participating pharmacies.
Prescription discount cards can be picked up at local participating pharmacies or printed out online at coast2
coastrx.com/SantaBarbaraca. The website lists participating pharmacies in Santa Barbara County.
This article appears in Jul 23-30, 2009.