Montgomery County, PA

 

NORRISTOWN — A new prescription drug program that will save the County millions in benefits costs will also provide substantial discounts on prescription drugs for any Montgomery County resident who wishes to participate.

 

Residents who sign up with SUNRx, the County’s new prescription coverage provider, will realize savings that average 15 percent on brand drugs and 40 percent on generic drugs at area pharmacies. Those savings increase to an average of 19.5 percent on brand and 55 percent on generic drugs when the mail-order pharmacy is used.

 

This is a program for people who otherwise do not have a prescription drug plan. It can also be helpful to seniors who experience the “donut hole effect,” a gap in coverage under Medicare Part D. Coverage drops off once the cost of drug reaches $2,250 and doesn’t start up again until the cost exceeds $5,100.

 

Below is an example of what six commonly used prescription drugs cost to purchase at full retail and the savings that can be obtained by using the SUNRx discount program.
 

			Retail Store	SUNRx	SUNRx
Drug Name	Qnty	Classification	Price	Program	Savings
Nexium 20mg	30	Brand	$ 169.99	$ 153.22	$ 16.77
Simvastatin 20mg	30	Generic Zocor	$ 27.99	$ 11.45	$ 16.54
Sertraline HCL 50mg	30	Generic Zoloft	$ 32.99	$ 15.33	$ 17.66
Prevacid 15mg	30	Brand	$ 161.68	$ 154.41	$ 7.27
Lunesta 1mg	30	Brand	$ 136.69	$ 130.34	$ 6.35
Lisinopril 40mg	30	Generic Zestril	$ 20.99	$ 11.12	$ 9.87

   
 
SUNRx has a wide network of pharmacies, including all of the large chains, and it has negotiated substantial discounts because of the high volume of business. SUNRx earns its money by charging a dispensing fee in exchange for passing the full amount of the discount to its customers.

 

This program was discovered while CBIZ, a consultant to the County, was shopping all of the County’s benefits coverage to 25 different providers.

 

That process brought taxpayers a total savings of $2 million this year. The County will realize a savings of $1.8 million by switching to SUNRx for prescription coverage and a switch in life insurance providers will bring $172,000 in savings.

 

All of the County’s other benefits costs were held to virtually no increase.

 

The discount program will begin for residents on Friday, November 2, 2007.  The discount program will begin for residents on Friday, November 2, 2007. Residents can call 1-800-650-3184 toll-free or visit www.sunrxdiscount.com/montco to sign up.