Ohio Governor Announces Prescription Drug Discounts to Seniors and the Disabled

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft (R) last week announced that senior citizens and those with permanent disabilities will soon receive discounts of up to 70% on prescription drugs, the Dayton Daily News reports. During the Governor's Conference on Aging, Taft said that state residents who have Golden Buckeye Cards, which offer individuals over age 60 discounts on various services, will provide a 20% discount off pharmacies' normal prescription drug costs and 17% to 40% off of mail-order and generic drugs and, in some cases, up to 70%, the Daily News reports. New cards will be mailed to eligible individuals in January. The discount is not "the final answer" but is a "step in the right direction" to addressing high drug costs for seniors and the disabled, Steve Proctor, an Ohio Department of Aging spokesperson, said. But Kent Darr, a spokesperson for the AFL-CIO, a member of the Coalition for Affordable Prescription Drugs, said the discounts are not "broa[d]" enough. The coalition is promoting a plan that would allow the state to directly negotiate with drug makers and is working to collect 100,626 signatures of voters in favor of the plan. If the group collects enough signatures, the state Legislature would have four months to approve the Ohio Prescription Drug Fair Pricing Act; if the Legislature fails to pass the measure, the coalition would have 90 days to get 100,000 additional signatures to put the plan on the 2003 ballot (Richey, Dayton Daily News, 10/10).