Drug card to save money

By William K. Alcorn

The discount cards will be available beginning Friday at various locations.

YOUNGSTOWN — The city will soon offer its residents a free prescription-drug discount card that can provide an average savings of 20 percent off the retail price of commonly prescribed drugs.

The discount cards will be available beginning Friday, said Councilman DeMaine Kitchen, D-2nd, who learned of the program at a National League of Cities conference and brought the idea back here.

Cards can be obtained at Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County branches in Youngstown; Associated Neighborhood Centers, 1649 Jacobs Road; and Organizacion Civica y Cultural Hispana Americana (OCCHA), 3660 Shirley Road.

Also, Kitchen said, residents can call their council representative for locations in their ward.

The prescription drug program is sponsored by the National League of Cities and administered by CVS Caremark.

The discount card may be used by all Youngstown residents and has no restrictions based on age, income level or existing health coverage and can be used at some 75 pharmacies around the city and as well as more than 59,000 participating retail pharmacies in the nation, the councilman said.

The cards are available at no cost to the individual and no cost to the city, and the card is easy to use.

There is no enrollment form or membership fee of any kind required, he said.

“Whether or not an individual has prescription coverage, this program can make it easier for our residents to afford the drugs they need,” Kitchen added.

alcorn@vindy.com