Not-so-bitter pill to swallow

WASILLA — United Way of Mat-Su wants you to know about a little blue and orange card that is saving people money on prescription medications.

Called the FamilyWize savings card, United Way of Mat-Su Director Stephanie Allen said that as of Friday afternoon the card had saved Valley residents $50,777. She said the FamilyWize program allows her to enter local zip codes and pull up a real-time tally of dollars saved locally.

“It’s exciting,” Allen said.

Users don’t have to register or hand over personal information to get the cards, and they can be used over and over again.

They can be found at the United Way office. Some pharmacies keep some on hand. If the United Way has a booth at a local event they’ll bring along a stack of cards. It can also be printed off the United Way’s website, unitedwaymatsu.org, by clicking on the “Our Work” tab.

“It just allows for people to be able to use that money for other things that they otherwise would have been spending on medicine,” Allen said.

She thinks it also increases access to medications that might otherwise have been priced out of reach of some patients. The card is useful for both the uninsured and the under-insured.

“Sometimes even if you have insurance it can be used also to assist on certain coverage just depending on what kind of insurance you have,” Allen said.

Allen said the average savings is around 30 percent.

“It doesn’t necessarily cover all of the expenses, but it might get you a discount on a medicine that you might not have been able to get,” she said.

So far, she said, she thinks all of the pharmacies in Wasilla and Palmer take the card. Coverage is a bit spottier in the upper Susitna Valley.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.