Local businesses partner with the United Way of Southeastern Utah

All businesses in the southeastern Utah area can now call the United Way of Southeastern Utah for FREE prescription discount cards for all their employees and families. Kate Alleman, president and CEO said, “The FamilyWize card reduces the cost of medicine by an average of 35%. It can be used by businesses for employees who have no health insurance, part-time employees, family members who may not be covered, as well as for all employees with health insurance as a backup for medicine that isn’t covered by the plan. Cards can also be used during the deductible period to make medication more affordable.”
People save about 8 out of 10 times when they have to buy medicine not covered by insurance. Cards can be used immediately – just present the card and a prescription to one of the 53,000 participating pharmacies and then you will automatically receive whatever the discount is. It’s that easy. There are no applications, fees, waiting period, or age and income requirements. Non-residents can use them, too and no personal information is collected. Even prescription pet medications purchased at a pharmacy are included!
“This program can touch so many people in our community,” said Kate Alleman. “One out of 3 people have been without health insurance coverage over the last two years. Even more skipped buying medicine or reduced the dosage they needed because of the high cost. The result is more people get sick and stay sick which increases absentee rates in the workplace and schools.”
Churches and other non-profits that deal with people in need can get as many cards as they need. You can also make photocopies of the card next to this article for immediate use. People with Internet access can print a card by visiting the website at www.familywize.org.. Discount cards can be obtained by calling the United Way of Southeastern Utah at 435.637.8911. “FamilyWize cards that United Ways distribute will save people more than $25 million over the next 12 months on the cost of their medicine,” said Dan Barnes, Co-Chair of the FamilyWize Partnership.
As of July 31, 2008, Carbon County residents have submitted 143 claims, with the total member cost being $6,198.95, actual submitted fees were $10,437.48 which equates to a savings of $4,238.53. This is an overall 40% savings for our Carbon County residents for an average of $29.64 per prescription.
The FamilyWize prescription drug discount cards are being distributed free of charge by the United Way of Southeastern Utah, the FamilyWize Partnership, and over 700 other United Way agencies and Alliance Partners in America’s Promise in all 50 states and Puerto Rico. The savings on the cost of medicine is provided voluntarily by the participating pharmacies in our community. Printing for ten million prescription cards was donated by Brown Printing of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Shipping is donated by Fedex Express.
Additional information about this program is available at the United Way of Southeastern Utah and online at www.familywize.org.
About the familize partnership
In the spring of 2005, Dan and Susan Barnes decided to give a supply of free prescription drug discount cards to the Family Centers in the local schools in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. They had heard of families who were having difficulty buying the medicine they needed because of the high cost and they wanted to do what they could to reduce the cost of prescriptions for families in the Lehigh Valley.. The Family Centers involved the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley, who asked 25 of its partner agencies to help distribute the cards to individuals and families in need throughout the area. Almost immediately, Dan and Susan received requests to provide this free assistance to other communities. As a result, they established the FamilyWize Community Service Partnership in the fall of 2005.
They invited a group of local and national companies to join together to provide this free assistance to people in need across the county. Now, more than twenty five thousand community and faith-based organizations, county and municipal agencies, doctors, pharmacies, public and private companies, and individuals across the country have joined together to reduce the cost of medicine for people in one out every three counties in the United States. More than 675 participating United Way agencies and America’s Promise Alliance Partners in all 50 states have volunteered to coordinate the local distribution of the free FamilyWize prescription drug discount cards. One of the most common questions is how the cards can be distributed for free. The answer is that the savings on the cost of the medicine is provided voluntarily by the more than 53,000 participating local pharmacies that have agreed to accept prices for medications that are close to the prices they make available to large insurance companies. FedEx Express provides the shipping. Brown Printing of Bethlehem, PA provides the printing. Sappi Fine Paper provides part of the paper and the Pharmacy Benefit Manager provides part of the processing fee included in the cost of the medicine to cover the administrative costs. For more information, visit www.familywise.org.