Niles Township Rx Card Saved Residents $17,500

Debby Karton gave the Niles Township board of trustees a positive report Monday on what its new , which is designed to save individuals money on their medications, has accomplished so far. 

From Oct. 12, when the program started, to Nov. 17, a five-week period, 543 people used the card at pharmacies.  Without it, they would have paid a total of $37, 836.73 for their medications; however, the card enabled them to pay a cumulative $20,323.16, a savings of 46.3 percent.

"You are to be commended," Karton, a benefits coordinator with the Illinois Public Pension Fund Association, told the board. "You've taken a risk to think outside the box and your residents have benefitted from that." 

Karton and her colleague Joel Babbitt, also a benefits coordinator with IPPFA, played a role in bringing the program, called the to the attention of Niles Township as a way to provide a cost-efficient service to its residents.

The people who have used the card so far fall into three categories, Karton told the trustees: people with no health insurance, people whose medical plans have a high co-pay for drugs and find it cheaper to use the Coast2Coast plan and people who have health insurance but find it doesn't cover the medications they need

"The majority of people using the card have no coverage at all," Babbitt said at the meeting.

Lee Tamraz, Niles Township Supervisor, became interested in having the township adopt the program because he had personally observed people who couldn't afford medication, he said when the program kicked off in October.

The Coast2Coast Rx Card  is free to users and incurs no costs to the township. Anyone, whether a Niles Township resident or not, can obtain a card from the township and present it at pharmacies to reap the savings. Major chains, such as Walgreens and CVS, participate in the program as well as many independent pharmacies.

Ada Rabinowitz, a township employee, said the card is available free at village halls, senior centers and some non-profit agencies in the township, which includes all or part of Skokie, Niles, Morton Grove, Lincolnwood, Golf and Glenview. Anyone may also pick up the card at Niles Township offices, at Main Street and Lincoln Avenue, Skokie, (847) 673-9300. The card is also available to download.