Virginia Officials Tour State To Promote Pfizer’s Prescription Drug Discount Card for Seniors

Virginia first lady Lisa Collis and other state health officials on July 18 toured the state to promote Pfizer's Share Card program, which offers some Medicare beneficiaries a 30-day supply of a Pfizer medication for $15, the Richmond Times Dispatch reports. "I'm pleased to see national pharmaceutical companies offering meaningful solutions to the high cost of drugs," Collis said (Smith, Richmond Times-Dispatch, 7/19). Pfizer's Share Card is available for Medicare beneficiaries who have no prescription drug coverage, do not qualify for Medicaid and have incomes less than $18,000 per year for an individual or $24,000 for a couple. Around 140,000 Virginia residents qualify for the card, and about 5,000 people have applied for it since March, according to Pfizer estimates (Simpson, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, 7/19). Pfizer is one of many large drug companies offering drug discount cards, with each card carrying different benefits. According to Jane Woods, secretary of Virginia's Health and Human Resources, information on the Pfizer discount card and other drug discount cards is available at 70 locations state-wide. Woods called the drug discount cards an "interim solution" until a Medicare prescription drug benefit is passed (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 7/19). But critics of the discount cards contend that the cards cover only a "small percentage" of seniors and that many seniors will have to apply for several different cards to cover all their drugs (Virginian-Pilot, 7/19). Families USA Executive Director Ron Pollack said the discount cards are "much more about the drug companies trying to get good public relations than actually providing meaningful help for seniors" (Richmond Times-Dispatch, 7/19).