CHAPEL HILL, N.C., April 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Seniors and people with disabilities will soon be able to take advantage of savings on prescription drugs by enrolling free in a Medicare-approved drug discount card being offered by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina and Medical Security Card Company (MSC)/ScriptSave.
A savings of between 10 and 25 percent on brand name and generic prescription drugs can be expected when presenting the ScriptSave Premier card at network pharmacies across the state. Any person covered by Medicare who does not have drug benefits under Medicaid or another health plan, can enroll in the ScriptSave Premier card introduced in North Carolina by BCBSNC, the state’s largest health insurer. Nearly 900,000 seniors 65 and older meet those requirements.
Enrollment opens May 3. Savings take effect June 1. The interim discount drug card program was included in the Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) as a way to provide immediate assistance on prescription drug costs before the comprehensive Medicare drug benefit starts in 2006.
“This is an important first step in bringing affordable prescription drug benefits to North Carolina seniors,” said Bob Greczyn, BCBSNC president and CEO. “We want to make it easy for every Medicare beneficiary to immediately see a real savings on medications as soon as possible.”
The card provides an immediate $600 credit toward drug purchases for qualifying low-income Medicare beneficiaries whose income is no more than $12,569, or for couples with an income of no more than $16,862. Up to an additional $600 will be available in 2005 to approved seniors.
BCBSNC is jointly providing the card with ScriptSave to North Carolina residents only, although ScriptSave has received approval from Medicare to provide the ScriptSave Premier card to Medicare beneficiaries nationwide. Coverage under a BCBSNC plan is not required for enrollment in the ScriptSave Premier card.
ScriptSave will provide enrollment and customer service support for seniors enrolling in the ScriptSave Premier card. The company has more than 10 years of experience providing drug discount cards and administers the current BCBSNC drug discount program. For more information about the ScriptSave Premier Medicare-approved drug discount card, call ScriptSave Customer Care toll-free at 1-866-LESS4RX (1-866-537-7479) or visit http://www.scriptsavepremier.com/ .
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is a leader in delivering innovative health care products, services and information to approximately 2.9 million members, including 546,000 served on behalf of other Blue plans. The company offers its members the Blue Extras(SM) value-added programs, which provide discounts and information on a wide variety of health-related services at no additional cost. BCBSNC also offers life, dental, long-term care and disability insurance products. For 70 years, the company has served its customers by offering access to quality health care at a competitive price and has served the people of North Carolina through support of community organizations, programs and events that promote good health. BCBSNC’s HMO and POS products have earned Excellent Accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), an independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of health care delivered to people everywhere. BCBSNC also has North Carolina’s first and only NCQA accredited PPO plan -- Blue Options(SM). Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. Access BCBSNC online at http://www.bcbsnc.com/ .
About MSC/ScriptSave
Medical Security Card Company (MSC) is headquartered in Tucson, Ariz. Its premier program is ScriptSave ( http://www.scriptsave.com/ ), which is a nationally recognized prescription discount program providing valuable prescription discounts to uninsured and underinsured consumers. The ScriptSave program currently has more than 10 million cardholders, more than 80 percent who are Medicare-eligible. Since the company’s inception in 1994, MSC has saved cardholders more than $592 million on prescription drugs. The company’s success has been based on its personalized, highly rated customer service that is tailored to meet the unique needs of older Americans, as well as a network of hundreds of sponsoring organizations.
ScriptSave Premier Network Pharmacies
Hundreds of pharmacies in North Carolina will participate in the ScriptSave Premier program, including:
-- CVS -- Kerr -- Target -- Walgreens
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina
CONTACT: Gayle Tuttle, +1-919-765-3747, or Mark Stinneford,+1-919-765-3745, both of BCBSNC; or Jan Shulman, +1-480-664-8472 ofScriptSave; or Jodi Amendola of Amendola Communications, +1-480-664-8412, forScriptSave
