Politics & Government
Rx Card Saved Niles Township Residents $310,000 in One Year
Program has expanded to 29 more townships since coming to Niles Township last October.
Niles Township residents have saved more than $310,000 in the past year by using the Coast2Coast Rx Card, on prescription medications at no cost to the users or to the township.
Debby Karton, a benefits coordinator with the Illinois Public Pension Fund Association, attended the township board of trustees meeting Oct. 11 to report on the first-year success of the program, which Niles Township was the first in Illinois to adopt. It is now available in 30 townships within Cook, Lake, DuPage and McHenry counties.
“Being first can be very exciting, like tonight,” Karton told the board before they cut a cake celebrating the first anniversary. “But sometimes being first can be a big risk.”
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Earlier:
According to the report Karton presented, people who received the card through Niles Township filled 10,133 presecriptions with it in the past year, and saved an average of 46.3 percent. The number of prescriptions filled each month rose from 157 in October 2010 to 1,443 in September of this year.
Find out what's happening in Niles-Morton Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The card has helped people who are uninsured, underinsured and those who have medical insurance but might have high co-payments on prescription medication or whose medications are not covered by the plan. It has been used by people in the “donut hole” of Medicare prescription coverage, she said.
Karton commended Niles Township Supervisor Lee Tamraz for championing the program, which some people said was “too good to be true” when she first brought the program to the township’s attention.
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 and , 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.
