Drugmakers Align to Offer Discount Card

By Bill Brubaker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 10, 2002; Page E01

Seven large pharmaceutical manufacturers said yesterday that they will jointly offer a prescription-drug discount card, beginning in June, that will allowsome low-income Medicare patients to obtain discounts of about 20 to 40 percent off retail pharmacy prices on more than 140 widely prescribed medications.

The initiative, called the Together Rx Card, is the latest effort by drugmakers to address concerns that millions of elderly Americans do not have prescription-drug coverage. Such concerns have prompted some in Congress to threaten drug manufacturers with price controls.

Since last summer, four drug manufacturers have rolled out their own discount cards. Over the past decade, hundreds of other discount cards have been introduced -- by retailers such as CVS, associations such as AARP and pharmacy-benefit managers such as AdvancePCS. And the Bush administration has proposed a discount prescription card of its own.

The proliferation of discount cards has raised concerns among some pharmacists and patient advocates that elderly patients may have difficulty sorting out which cards offer the best deals. Drug company executives say the new card is a response to these concerns.

"Statistics tell us that a lot of seniors take several different kinds of medicine," GlaxoSmithKline executive Mary Anne Rhyne said. "Chances are that those medicines are made by different companies. The goal here is to enable them to take advantage of these savings plans without having to carry a wallet full of cards."

Companies participating in the program are Abbott Laboratories Inc., AstraZeneca PLC, Aventis SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis AG.

The card will be offered free to Medicare enrollees who do not have any prescription-drug coverage -- under a supplemental insurance plan, for example -- and whose incomes are less than $28,000 ($38,000 for couples). Drugs covered under the program are used to treat arthritis, diabetes, depression, high cholesterol and other conditions that commonly affect the elderly.

GlaxoSmithKline will continue to offer its own discount card, known as the Orange Card, Rhyne said. That card is offered to Medicare enrollees with annual incomes of $26,000 ($35,000 for couples). She said she doesn't believe Medicare enrollees will be confused by the two programs.

Novartis also recently unveiled a discount card. It will continue to offer the card until the Together Rx program begins, a spokeswoman said.

Yesterday, Novartis announced that uninsured Medicare enrollees with incomes of $18,000 ($24,000 for a couple) soon will be able to buy all of their Novartis-manufactured medications for a flat $12 monthly fee.

The two other companies that recently announced discount-card plans, Pfizer Inc. and Eli Lilly and Co., are notpart of the Together Rx program.

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson called the program a "tremendous new initiative." He added in a statement that the joint venture "is a testimony to the way the private sector effectively and creatively addresses the needs of consumers and patients throughout the country."

Separately, Merck & Co. yesterday announced plans to simplify access to its patient-assistance program. Merck said it would provide free drugs to patients -- of any age -- without drug coverage whose incomes are below $18,000 ($24,000 for a household).