Indiana Drug Card Media Center

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

Jeffersonville Mayor Tom Galligan announced Tuesday that a prescription drug card that can reduce consumer costs at many pharmacies is available to Clark County residents at City Hall and other locations in Jeffersonville.

"This is something simple we can offer at no cost to the city or the consumer" to help lower medical costs for the public, Galligan said.

The discount program is provided in Indiana through the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns, Jeffersonville insurance agent Edward Culpepper "Pepper" Cooper said at a press conference at Jeffersonville City Hall.

It often provides discounts of 30 percent off retail costs for prescription drugs at participating pharmacies, including CVS, Kroger, Meijer, Rite Aid, Target, Walgreens, Walmart and others, the city said in a press release.

Cooper said it can benefit residents who don't have insurance and those with high-deductible insurance, since it can reduce their out-of-pocket costs for prescription medicines. It won't be of much use for those who have health insurance that includes good prescription drug benefits, Cooper said.

The cards are accepted at about 56,000 pharmacies across the county, the city said.

In the next few weeks, Jeffersonville will mail a newsletter to its residents that will include a page with the discount card printed on it, as well as an explanation, Cooper said. The postage -- about $3,600 -- will be paid by the Neace Lukens Maverick Insurance Agency, for which Cooper works.

The card simply requires a name and a phone number to be written on it, and when presented at a participating pharmacy, a discount will be offered.

The card says that the program is not insurance but simply a "point-of-sale discount plan" in which participating pharmacies offer certain discounts, which the pharmacies determine themselves.

"It's a win-win situation," Galligan said, explaining that the discount program saves consumers money at no cost to the city or state and helps the participating pharmacies' marketing.

The cards are available on the Jeffersonville website, www.cityofjeff.net, at the sewer billing office in City Hall, 500 Quartermaster Court, and they soon will be at the city's five fire stations. They are available to all Clark County residents.