UCHealth expands Prescription Club to northern Colorado

Discount card will provide assistance for the uninsured, underinsured
September 27, 2016

The UCHealth discount prescription plan has come to northern Colorado.

UCHealth is making more than 200 commonly prescribed generic drugs available for $5 for a 30-day supply. A 90-day supply of generics on the list will cost just $13. The Prescription Club is in effect now in the Fort Collins retail pharmacies at Poudre Valley Hospital and the UCHealth Emergency Room on Harmony Road, and at Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland.

The list includes drugs that cover more than a dozen conditions, including hypertension, high cholesterol, arthritis and Parkinson’s disease. There are multiple medications and dosages in nearly all the categories.

The plan costs $1 more than large retail pharmacy plans, such as Wal-Mart’s, but patients will have the convenience of picking prescriptions up within a UCHealth facility rather than making a trip to a retail outlet, said Katherine Edelblut, director of retail and outpatient pharmacy services for UCHealth Northern Colorado.

“The Prescription Club allows patients and employees to access a variety of prescription medications at a competitive price and at our convenient locations,” she said. “Our pharmacies provide excellent, personalized service, and this is another way to offer that service at the best price possible.”

The Prescription Club will help patients who are uninsured or underinsured — such as those with large prescription co-pays — to get their medications, but it’s open to all UCHealth patients and employees.

The Prescription Club is not an insurance plan. Rather, it is a cash discount plan that cannot be used to satisfy a deductible or reduce the co-pay on another prescription. It cannot be used in conjunction with other prescription insurance.

The club also will provide discounts for generic and brand name medications that are not on the list. These discounted prescriptions will cost less than the regular cash pricing available at UCHealth pharmacies and will provide additional help to individuals, Edelblut said. People should contact the pharmacist for those lists, as they are updated frequently, she added.

Join the club

To enroll, visit one of UCHealth’s retail pharmacy locations in Fort Collins or Loveland. Individuals will pay a $10 enrollment fee, which defrays the cost of developing and sustaining the program. The enrollment fee will automatically be added to the first prescription billed to the program. To offset the fee, enrollees will receive two $5 coupons they can use to pay for their prescriptions. The coupons can be used immediately or saved to be used another day.

Enrollees will get a welcome packet and a card with a unique 10-digit identification, such as a phone number. There is a simple enrollment application, and individuals can access the program the day they enroll at the pharmacy.

UCHealth’s drug wholesaler, Cardinal Health, sponsors the program and works with drug manufacturers to decide which generic medications will be on the program list. The cash discounts for generic and branded medications not on the list will be based on the industry and accepted costs.

Contact a UCHealth pharmacist for more information: MCR pharmacy at 970.624.1485, PVH pharmacy at 970.495.8034, Emergency Room at Harmony pharmacy at 970.237.8140.