Walgreens Offers Illinois Residents Prescription Drug Discounts Through State Program

Illinois-based Walgreens, the nation's largest retail-pharmacy chain, has joined a state program offering senior citizens discounts on prescription drugs, Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) announced on Thursday, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Walgreens will be a Level 1 retailer in the Illinois Prescription Drugs Buying Club, which is available to Illinois residents ages 65 and older and people with disabilities. Walgreens will give members a 15% discount on brand-name drugs' wholesale prices and 50% off generic drugs. Members will pay a $25 annual fee for the discount card benefits (Wisby, Chicago Sun-Times, 4/2). Members also will be exempt from paying a $3.50 dispensing fee at Walgreens (Chase, Chicago Tribune, 4/2). Nearly half the pharmacies in the program are Level 4 retailers, and offer customers a 12% discount on brand name drugs and 35% on generics (Chicago Sun-Times, 4/2). Three months after it began, the program has enrolled 62,000 members. Scott McKibbin, who is helping oversee the prescription program, estimated the total savings for the claims at $462,000 -- a 21% savings. The membership program "has no impact" on the Medicare prescription drug discount cards, the Chicago Tribune reports. "[W]e are simply going our own way. We're not going to rely on what they do in Washington," Blagojevich said. Illinois also has made a deal with Merck, which agreed to provide additional discounts to club members for Merck drugs (Chicago Tribune, 4/2).