“Arkansas’ FREE Discount Prescription Drug Card Program”

The Hot Springs Village Area Chamber of Commerce announced today that it will distribute free discount prescription drug cards to members of the Chamber and residents of surrounding towns.

Everyone is eligible to participate in the Arkansas Drug Card Program. There are no restrictions to membership, no income restrictions, no age limit, and no applications to fill out. Arkansas residents can receive savings of up to 75 percent (savings average around 30 percent) at more than 50,000 national and regional pharmacies.

Participating pharmacies in the program include chamber members Village HealthMart and Walmart. Other national pharmacies accepting the card are Fred's, Walgreens, and Target as well as thousands of independent pharmacies. Lee Ann Branch, executive director of the chamber said, "When I was called by Ken Hatfield and given the opportunity to offer this program to our members and realized it was for everyone, it seemed like a slam dunk to me.

"I'm in the same situation as many of our members and residents when it comes to a high deductible. And with Ken Hatfield, former Arkansas Razorback head football coach, serving as the state program director, any question I had about the program was answered.

"He is not only a former teammate of my husband's, Ken is a friend and always wants the best for all people. I took it to the chamber board members, and they were in full agreement that this program is something we definitely want to do for our community."

To get your free Arkansas Drug Card, come by the Chamber office.

The Arkansas Drug Card you pick up at the Chamber will have the chamber logo on it, identifying you with the Village.

By using the HSV Area chamber's Arkansas Drug Card, you not only will be helping yourselves, you will be helping your local Chamber.

To receive your card, stop by the chamber office at 4585 Hwy 7 N, Ste. 9, 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. and noon to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The Arkansas Drug Card program was launched April 1, 2008, to help the uninsured and underinsured people of Arkansas afford their prescription medications. However, the program can also be used by people who have health insurance coverage with no prescription benefits, which is common in many health savings accounts and high-deductible health plans. Additionally, people who have prescription coverage can use this program for nonformulary or non-covered drugs.

The Arkansas Drug Card can be used by individuals who do not qualify for publicly funded programs such as Medicaid and Medicare. And it can be used by people who receive their medicine through charity care providers. The Arkansas Drug Card program has no restrictions or participation requirements and the program is open to every resident of Arkansas. The program is powered by UNA RxCard, which is a division of United Networks of America. UNA RxCard is the fastest-growing discount prescription card company in the United States.

UNA RX Card has set up similar programs to the Arkansas Drug Card in New York, California, Texas, New Jersey, Ohio, Utah, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina.

LITTLE ROCK, AR – The Arkansas Drug Card Program announced today that it will distribute "FREE" discount prescription drug cards to the residents of Arkansas. Everyone is eligible to participate in the Arkansas Drug Card Program. There are no restrictions to membership, no income restrictions, no age limit, and no applications to fill out. Arkansas residents can receive savings of up to 75 percent (savings average around 30 percent) at more than 50,000 national and regional pharmacies. Participating pharmacies include Fred's, Walgreens, Kmart, as well as thousands of independent pharmacies.

Former Arkansas Razorbacks Head Football Coach, Ken Hatfield, has been named the Program Director. "I am proud to be a part of the Arkansas Drug Card. This program can help all residents of Arkansas and I am excited about the opportunity to give back to the people of this great State," said Hatfield. "This program is just what the people of Arkansas needed to help them manage rising drug costs."

As a resident of Arkansas, you can download your free prescription drug card by visiting www.arkansasdrugcard.com . Anyone not able to access the website, or otherwise obtain a member card, can visit any Fred's Pharmacy location in Arkansas. Fred's Pharmacy has been selected as the preferred pharmacy for the program and they have agreed to process your prescription through the Arkansas Drug Card program even if you walk in without a card. Rick Chambers, EVP Pharmacy Operations at Fred's, said "Fred's is excited to have been selected as the preferred pharmacy for the Arkansas Drug Card Program. We are always looking for additional ways to make prescription access more affordable to Arkansas residents and we believe this program helps us achieve our goal."

The Arkansas Drug Card can also be used by individuals who do not qualify for publicly funded programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare. It can also be used by people who receive their medicines through charity care providers such as 340B, a federally funded program that grants discounts to providers, and require a drug that is not available to them. This program even covers some pet medications, which are those medications that are available at participating pharmacies.

The Arkansas Drug Card program has no restrictions or participation requirements and the program is open to every resident of Arkansas.

This program is powered by UNA Rx Card, which is a division of United Networks of America. Brian Oliver, EVP, noted "the free Rx programs have created almost $100,000,000 in prescription savings to members around the country in the short history of the program with calendar year savings for 2008 projected to exceed $108,000,000." UNA Rx Card is the fastest growing discount prescription card company in the United States. UNA Rx Card has set up similar programs to the Arkansas Drug Card in New York, California, Texas, New Jersey, Ohio, Utah, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Wisconsin and Tennessee.