Indiana Drug Card Media Center

(Jeffersonville) – Indiana residents are being offered a way to save money on their prescription drugs.

The savings are being offered in the form of a prescription drug card that averages a savings of 30 percent on medications and can equal up to a 75 percent discount, according to a press release from the city of Jeffersonville.

Discount cards come at no cost to residents, are not restricted by income and are applicable to those that already have prescription drug coverage through their health insurance.

If it sounds too good to be true, that's also what the city officials sponsoring the program thought.

"When she [an Indiana Association of Cities and Towns employee] first started telling me about it I said, 'OK there's a catch,'" said Suzy Bass, chief deputy in the Jeffersonville Clerk-Treasurer's office.

Bass brought the idea to the city after it was presented through the state organization.

Edward Culpepper "Pepper" Cooper, Jeffersonville's health insurance agent-of-record with Maverick Insurance, said the card also provides a benefit for those who may have a health savings account. He said until a person reaches his or her deductible amount, they pay 100 percent of the prescription costs.

"It's not just for the people that don't have insurance," he said. "It's become very, very good for people that have high deductible plans."

Mayor Tom Galligan said the prescription drug program will provide a dual benefit.

"A lot of people just can't afford [prescription drugs]," he said. "And what this is trying to do is help make them afford it and also it helps the drug companies sell more product."

"If you look at, when you talk to businesses, everybody's cutting back," he said. "Drugs are no different. Some people just can't afford them and they're cutting back. And this is a way for them to continue to use the necessary medication."

Although Galligan said it is a marketing tool for drug companies to continue selling medicine, it is also providing necessary prescriptions to patients, at a lower cost.

"I commend them for doing it," he said.

One of the hurdles for the prescription drug card program has been getting the cards to the people that need them. Cooper said Maverick Insurance is planning to include an insert sheet in the next Jeffersonville newsletter with discount cards. The city's next newsletter is scheduled to be distributed some time in October.

But local residents won't have to wait to pick up a card. Discount cards are available at the mayor's office, all of Jeffersonville's fire stations and at the city's sewer department billing office. They also can be printed from the website CityofJeff.net.

Additionally, the cards are not being restricted to Jeffersonville residents.

"It's for anybody in the state," Bass said.

Cooper said he plans to take the same program to Clarksville and New Albany - where he is also the agent of record - so they can distribute the cards.

One caveat is that each individual will need a separate discount card.

"We think these are a great tool to help our citizens in times that are pretty tough right now," Galligan said.