This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

County Leads in National Discount Drug Program

County residents have saved more than $20 million since 2004.

Montgomery County is still on top when it comes to providing less-expensive prescription medications to residents.

In December 2004, the county became the first jurisdiction in the United States to participate in a national program to offer discounted drugs to both the insured and the uninsured. Since then, the county leads the nation in terms of dollars saved through the Montgomery Rx Prescription Discount Program, a partnership with the National Association of Counties.

“It started out as the most successful county and it’s still the most successful county,” NACo Executive Director Larry Naake said at a news conference on Monday in Rockville. He attributed the county’s strong performance to effective marketing. More than 1,400 counties participate in NACo’s Prescription Discount Card Program, administered by CVS Caremark.

Find out what's happening in Bethesda-Chevy Chasewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

County residents have saved more than $20 million on 1.2 million prescriptions over the past seven years. More than 4,000 prescriptions are filled a month at more than 140 participating pharmacies throughout the county. Americans have saved more than $400 million on 32 million prescriptions nationwide since the program began.

“We are working on many fronts to improve access to health care for our low-income and uninsured residents through the Montgomery Cares program and through Care for Kids, and Montgomery Rx fits right into that effort. ...,” County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said. "We’re proud to be the first and we’re proud to be the leaders.”

Find out what's happening in Bethesda-Chevy Chasewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Montgomery Rx is open to all county residents regardless of age, income or insurance status and users do not have to pay any fees or fill out an application to participate. Residents can obtain a free card by going to county libraries, Montgomery Cares clinics, nonprofit partners such as food pantries or by . The card, which can be used to save an average of 24 percent on the retail cost of prescriptions drugs, can also be used to purchase medicines for pets.

It’s unclear what effect federal health care reform will have on the discount card program because it has yet to be determined what care will be included in the reform's essential benefits program, said Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Ulder J. Tillman.

The prescription card is "another tool” for making health care more affordable, she said.

Naake concurred.

“We don’t know exactly what the impact of health care reform will be but there will always be holes,” he said.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?