Storey commissioners approve drug discount cards for residents

By fall, residents of Storey County can get free discount cards to help ease the cost of prescription drugs.

Storey County commissioners approved the plan Tuesday, available thanks to the county's association with the Nevada Association of Counties, the state arm of the National Association of Counties, which has a contract with CVS Caremark to provide the cards.

Storey County Manager Pat Whitten said that the cards will be made available free of charge to the county and its residents.

"This prescription drug program cost us nothing," he said. "The beauty of this is it enables us to give these to our citizens, and all they have to do is walk into one of thousands of places that offer prescriptions, from Scolaris to CVS to Longs to Wal Mart, and ask what is the best deal."

He said the card would help residents lower the cost of their prescriptions, whether they had insurance or not.

Whitten said it took eight to 10 weeks to complete the process after the commissioners approve the program and expected it to be ready in the fall.

He said he is ready to order the first 1,000 cards to be mailed out to residents as soon as possible.

Residents will not have to renew the cards, Whitten said, adding that the original cards are good so long as the county remains a member of NACO and stays in the program. He also added that there would be no exchange of private information on prescription buyers.

The cards are available at 59,000 pharmacies nationwide and most major pharmacies in Northern Nevada accept the NACO card, Whitten said.

"Many other counties have signed up for this and it works good," said Commissioner John Flanagan, adding that there was no enrollment form, membership fees or restrictions or limits on frequency of use. Cardholders and their families may use the card any time their prescriptions are not covered by insurance.

Jeff Fontaine, director of Nevada Association of Counties, has estimated the savings to consumers who use the cards in other counties " including Lyon County " to be between 13 percent and 34 percent of the prescription cost. Lyon County commissioners approved making cards available to their residents in January.

- Contact reporter Karen Woodmansee at kwoodmansee@nevadaappeal.com or call 881-7351.