Racine County in
southeastern Wisconsin started a program this week to help county residents get
as much as 33 percent off the price of prescription drugs.

According to a Racine
County release, prescription drug discount cards are available through a
program run by the National Association of Counties, an organization that
lobbies for county interests in Washington, D.C.

County residents
enrolled in the program can obtain a discount card for free at a municipal
building and use it at one of the 57,000 participating pharmacies nationwide. Residents
do not have to fill out any forms or present any type of identification — they
are immediately granted a card.

"When people pick up
the card, they just pick up the card. Their name is not on the card. We don't
keep a record of who gets them. We don't ask to see anything," said Andrea
Bumpurs, grant writer for Racine County. "There're no qualifications for taking
a card. You just take one."

Those with
prescription drug insurance are also encouraged to take a card, according to
Jim Philipps, media relations manager for NACo. They can use the card on drugs
not covered by their insurance plan, although the card does not provide further
discounts to a drug already reduced in price by insurance coverage.

According to Philipps,
the program began in 2004 with 17 member counties participating in a pilot
prescription drug discount card program. NACo declared it a success, and in May
2005 the program was offered to all NACo member counties. Currently, 883
counties are participating and $50.6 million has been saved on 4.62 million
prescriptions filled.

According to Bumpurs,
the program does not cost anything to Racine County. The price reductions are
negotiated with pharmacies and drug companies through Caremark, a health
benefits provider.

"The discount is not
coming from local county taxpayers. It's not coming from the county. It's not
coming from NACo. It's not coming from federal government. It's a negotiated
discount," Philipps said.

Philipps added many
drug companies benefit from participating in this program.

"Drug companies like
to enter into agreements like this because they like to sell drugs, and doing
it through Caremark and an organization like NACo, they get to move more
product," Philipps said. "The pharmacies like the discount program because, if
they make the NACo card available to their customers, they're more likely to go
those pharmacies to purchase their drugs."

The savings for a
consumer range from 13 to 33 percent per prescription, Philipps said. Counties
get a monthly report detailing how much money was saved and how many people
used the cards. No individual data is recorded, Bumpurs said.

Of the 3,066 counties
in the United States, 2,200 pay dues to be members of NACo. Philipps said he
wants to see this program expand to include all counties.

"Eventually, we'd like
every NACo member county to be participating in the program because there's no
cost to the local tax payer," Philipps said. "It's free and easy to use. It's NACo's
most successful program and we hope more [counties] get on board."

Dane County is a
member of NACo, but it is not currently participating in the prescription drug
discount card program. George Twigg, spokesperson for Madison Mayor Dave
Cieslewicz, said it is not currently being considered.