Seniors, finding they save little, forgo drug cards

Associated Press

©Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

E-mail this story to a friend

ABOUT DISCOUNT CARDS The new Medicare discount drug cards, issued in June, offer a dizzying array of options. Seniors must pick among 40 cards, each of which gives a different discount on different drugs. Not all cards work in every pharmacy or every state, and seniors can't change cards until December, while the companies that offer cards can change discounts or drop drugs entirely. The program is meant to help seniors pay for their prescriptions until the new Medicare plan takes effect in 2006. To top of story

LEWISTON — Although a recent study shows that new Medicare discount drug cards offer savings off retail prescription prices, pharmacists and advocates say Maine's senior citizens are largely ignoring the cards. "I haven't had a one," said Robert Witt, a pharmacist at Howard's Liggett Rexall Drugs in Farmington.

The cards were issued in June. The program is meant to help seniors pay for their prescriptions until the new Medicare plan takes effect in 2006.

The cards offer savings similar to the 10 percent price break that many pharmacies give older customers, said Bob Morrissette of Pharmacy Group of New England, which represents independent pharmacies.

"So many people are choosing not to sign up for the card because they're not saving any money," he said. "And this was something touted big-time" by the federal government.

Some older Mainers say Canadian pharmacies offer the most reliable discounts.

"My savings in Canada are a lot better than those cards," said Edna LaFlamme, 67, of Lewiston, who investigated the cards but decided against signing up for one.

Neena Quirion of the Maine Council of Senior Citizens, which organizes drug-buying bus trips to Canada, said she knew of no senior using the cards.

There are no statistics on how many of the 227,000 eligible Mainers have the cards, said Roseanne Pawelec of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Boston.

The federal government estimates that 38,000 low-income seniors in Maine qualify for the $600 credit on prescription drugs that the cards allow. To be eligible, annual income must be $12,569 or less for singles and $16,862 or less for couples.

"We're trying hard to reach that population," Pawelec said.

To top of page