By Howard Fischer
Capitol Media Services
PHOENIX -- The prescription discount card promised by Gov. Katie Hobbs is finally available.
But it will be up to Arizonans to decide whether it's worth signing up for this particular card -- there are others available -- even though it costs nothing.
As promoted, the ArrayRx program is supposed to provide an average 18% discount for named prescription drugs. The average mark-down for generics is listed at 80%.
It's mainly meant for people without drug coverage. In fact, it can't be used in combination with insurance.
But Dr. Trevor Douglass, director of the Oregon Prescription Drug Program, one of the other participants in the ArrayRx program, said those who do have coverage still might find a benefit to signing up.
"Sometimes paying for the prescription because the deductible is so high is more expensive through your health insurance than it would be using a discount card,'' he said when the program was first rolled out in August. Ditto, Douglass said, when it is the end of the plan year and there is a limit on coverage.
And he said that sometimes a drug a doctor prescribes isn't in the "formulary'' of what an insurer will cover.
So how much can people save?
Consider lovastatin, a commonly prescribed generic prescription for cholesterol.
The ArrayRx website lists a number of different pharmacies that offer the drug, with prices ranging from $13.18 for a 30-day supply of the 10-milligram tablets to $31.20. There also are some mail-order options for $29.30 for a 90-day supply.
By contrast, GoodRx, also free, is offering the same prescription for as little as $8.17.
An antibiotic like amoxicillin can be purchased with an ArrayRx card for as little as $9.62 for a 10-day supply -- twice a day -- of 250 mg tablets. The lowest cost through GoodRx, without having to join some other program, is $11.22.
Patients still need a prescription. But theya can then take that to any of the nearly 1,200 pharmacies along with the card which is available to be printed out once someone signs up at "https://arrayrxcard.com''.
The governor's office, which issued a press release on Monday about the program, did not respond to requests seeking information about how those without internet access can get enrolled.
Arizona joins Connecticut, Nevada, Oregon and Washington which already were part of the ArrayRx program. By working with the other states, the idea is they will be able to use their combined power negotiate with manufacturers for better prices.
The decision by Hobbs to link up with the ArrayRx program came a year after she could not get any political traction for her controversial plan to cap drug prices. That comprehensive proposal included creation of a Prescription Drug Affordability and Transparency Board which would determine what companies could charge for their prescription drugs.
No such plan, however, ever was introduced at the Legislature.
Eva Burch, then a Democratic senator from Mesa, did sponsor a narrower version later in 2024 to require pharmacy benefit managers -- the companies that purchase drugs for insurance companies that eventually wind up in the hands of their customers -- to get state approval for price increases. That bill never got a hearing.
At least part of the reason that the idea of price controls failed to launch was concerns by some lawmakers about the effects of what was being proposed.
"Generally speaking, I'm not a fan of price caps and don't believe I've seen them work -- unless you consider stifled innovation a good thing,'' said Sen. T.J. Shope, R-Coolidge, about the plan. "I want to continue seeing advancements in modern medicine.''
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