Golden Buckeye card will help 1.6 million Ohioans

by Natalie Long
Staff Writer

Gov. Bob Taft recently announced MemberHealth, a prescription benefit management organization, has been selected to offer significant discounts on prescription drugs to more than two million senior citizens.

Taft’s new card is an expansion of the current Golden Buckeye card. The current card has been around since 1976, said Lisa Polley Baker, public information officer for the Ohio Department of Aging. There are more than 22,000 participants included on the card throughout the state of Ohio.

“We are helping senior citizens to get drug benefits,” Taft said. “We are doing everything we can to provide a safety net.

Polley Baker said the new Golden Buckeye card would provide members with discounts on prescription drugs. The current card does not include prescription drug benefits.

“Anyone over the age of 60 is eligible as well as those with permanent and total disabilities,” Polley Baker said.

The new card will be mailed January 2003, and if people do not receive it, they can sign up for it at their local library. The department uses vehicle registration as a source to send out the cards.

There are currently 2.2 million Ohioans eligible for the card. The card is not going to cost the state anything said Gary Panek, program manager for the Golden Buckeye Program.

The department will issue 1.6 million new cards for an estimated 600,000 people without drug prescription insurance, Polley Baker said.

“We cannot allow our seniors and disabled people to have to choose between buying food or drugs,” Taft said in a recent press release. “This will make prescription drugs more affordable. I am excited that we will be able to fulfill a pledge I made in my State of the State speech.”

MemberHealth, based in Solon was selected through a competitive process to negotiate the benefits with drug stores and pharmacies said Panek. MemberHealth was picked because it presented the most attractive proposal for pharmaceutical management services for the Golden Buckeye Card Prescription Drug Benefit Plan.

In Athens there are more than 50 businesses that participate in the current Golden Buckeye program. Most businesses offer a 10 percent discount but some offer 5 percent. Businesses in the program include everything from fast food to jewelers to hotels and motels.

Local pharmacists are optimistic that the Golden Buckeye card will be beneficial for the elderly.

Fruth Pharmacy, 8972 United Lane, is an independent chain comprised of 22 stores. The chain was established in 1952 and the Athens store opened in 1986.Workman says Fruth Pharmacy already offers 10 percent off of prescription prices to 60-year-olds and older who do not have insurance as well as to children under 6-years-old.

“It’ s probably going to bring more people in,” said Bobbie Jo Workman, store manager. “It will be great because people out there might not even realize we do that.”

On Oct. 28, the Controlling Board, a panel that allows the state to modify budget appropriations while keeping close tabs on spending, will review Taft’s request.

“Hopefully it will pass,” Panek said.