Arizona Starts Drug Discount Program

January 13, 2002
Arizona has inaugurated a program to give prescription drug discounts to 570,000 seniors and disabled persons in the state. Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) signed an executive order launching the perogram Jan. 7.

Under the plan, participants will pay a $25 annual fee that will entitle them to buy medicines at pharmacies offering the discounts. The exact savings won't be known until the state negotiates discounts with pharmacies but Napolitano said the discount could be as high as 20 percent.

The Arizona Legislature refused to pay a similar program because of its estimated $1 million satrt-up cost. But Napolitano says her program will cost taxpayers nothing because the $25 will cover expenses.

Marian Lupu, executive director of the Pima Council on Aging in Tucson, said she is "trhilled" with the program, according to the Arizona Daily Star. "Twenty percent, when you're living on low income, is better than no percent," she said

The Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's Medicaid program, will send out bids to pharmacies in a "few weeks," officials said.