DeKalb Township Distributes Prescription Drug Discount Cards

DeKalb Township Supervisor Eric Johnson has announced that prescription drug discount cards are now available through his office. The new program is designed to help uninsured or under insured residents receive their prescriptions at a discounted rate. The Drug Discount Card is completely free and will help many residents offset some of the overwhelming costs of prescription medications.

Residents who do not have a health insurance policy that pays for prescription drugs will be able to use this prescription drug discount card to receive a discount on their prescription medications. These discounts range from 20% to 50% and is accepted at nearly every pharmacy in DeKalb. This plan is not being funded by taxpayer dollars and is funded through private partnerships with the various drug companies, pharmacies, and RxSavingsPlus.

DeKalb Township’s involvement in the program started about a year ago. Supervisor Johnson was contacted by the township statewide association, Township Officials of Illinois (T.O.I.), to see if they would be interested in participating in this program which would offer drug discounts to people who used the cards. Enough townships around the state of Illinois responded that they would be interested and the state association negotiated the partnership. Townships were contacted after the agreements were made to give some information about the township’s population, and each was then sent personalized drug cards and pamphlets that could be distributed to their residents. All of this was done at no expense to the township. Supervisor Johnson said “I was interested in participating in this program when I found out that we would not have to incur any expenses to get the program started. All the costs were paid for by RxSavingsPlus and T.O.I.”

DeKalb Township received about 9000 cards and has been in the process of distributing them around the community. Additionally, DeKalb Township receives $.75 every time a card is used from RxSavingsPlus. It is a way for the townships, who are distributing the savings cards, to generate revenue without having to do so through property taxes. “This is a win-win situation for all those involved, the residents can save money on prescriptions and the townships receive money that does not affect property tax rates.” said Eric Johnson.

Another feature of the Drug Discount Card program is the special affiliation with CVS Minute Clinics. If you are uninsured and living near a CVS Pharmacy with a Minute Clinic, you can save up to 10% on a visit to the Clinic.

The Prescription Drug Discount card has additional benefits for residents who may not need prescription drug coverage for themselves. For pet owners, you can fill many of your pet prescriptions at special discount prices too. So for those residents that have their own pharmacy plans, they can still make good use of this card for pet meds.

The DeKalb Township board has given their support and endorsement to this program and it is our hope that area residents will be able to take advantage of the savings. For more information regarding this program in our township, or to request drug discount cards, visit our website at www.dekalbtownship.org and look under the “Supervisor” tab.