Choosing A Discount Drug Card Is Challenging

Beware politicians bearing gifts. After years of wrangling, the first phase of the Medicare drug benefit is going into effect. But saving money with drug cards won’t be simple.
Congress knows that the high cost of prescription medicine is a hot button issue with voters. There was tremendous pressure to do something-anything–to convince senior citizens that somebody cared. Whether this first effort is anything more than window dressing remains to be determined.
A dizzying array of drug discount cards has been around for years. They have been issued by insurance companies, chain drug stores, nonprofit organizations and drug companies. Making sense of all the so-called deals has been a challenge.
Some cards require an annual fee. Others have a transaction cost tacked on to every purchase. And the savings realized can vary widely from one card to another, or even from one drug to another on the same card. For example, the cost of one medicine might be cut by 15 percent and a different drug could be 30 percent off. If you’re taking several medications, you might need a handful of cards to get the discounts on all of them.
Now that the government is involved in the drug discount card biz, don’t anticipate that things will be a lot less confusing. For one thing, there will be dozens of new cards to choose from and a marketing blitz that is likely to overwhelm many senior citizens.
For the very poor, the decision is straightforward. Those who earn no more than $12,569 per year are eligible for a free government card that provides $600 worth of medications in 2004 and another $600 in 2005. For a couple, the cut-off is $16,862.
Those that earn more will have to choose from a variety of Medicare-approved discount cards. If you go to the official Website (www.medicare.gov/) you may be swamped by the number of options and the lack of detailed information on how much you can save. To get more information you have to provide specific financial data and then you will still end up having to call a lot of companies to learn how much you will save on any given medicine.
Experts estimate that the Medicare drug cards will save an average of 10 to 20 percent. That means that someone who is spending $300 or $400 a month would might save somewhere between $30 and $80. That’s not insignificant, but it can hardly be called a windfall.
It’s no wonder that many senior citizens are more excited about buying their medicines from Canada where they can frequently save 40 or 50 percent. The government considers this practice illegal, but it has not yet prosecuted grandmothers purchasing diabetes drugs or blood pressure pills online.
It makes sense to be choosy about a drug discount card. Once you are signed up with one, you can’t change it until next year. And if you already have a drug discount card you like, you may not save by switching.
If the whole thing seems way too confusing, ask your pharmacist for a recommendation. After all, she has to deal with all these organizations every day and may be able to help you make sense out of chaos.