My daughter is a college student who just started working full time. She does not yet have all of her benefits, so she asked me to pick up a prescription medication for her. I couldn’t use my Medicare Part D, so it was $39. I asked the pharmacy technician if they accepted discount cards, and she said I had two weeks to get one and receive a discount.

Different cards have different discounts. When I got one online and brought it to the pharmacy, I was told I could get a $5 discount.

Desperate, I asked the tech if she had a discount card behind the counter. After an odd moment, she left and came back with a RoadRunner Rx card. I asked if I could use that for the medication, and she left again. When she came back, she said I could have a 75 percent savings and a $29 refund.

Is this a way for pharmacies to pad their profits – on the backs of the working uninsured? I say “working uninsured,” because “working poor” seems derogatory for heroic people who choose to work and struggle, rather than sit at home on government handouts.

Is this the result of well-meaning legislation or regulation that got too much help from the pharmacy lobby? Is this something that the Press Herald or Maine Legislature might want to investigate? I have documentation.

Meanwhile, when you go to a pharmacy, don’t be afraid to ask for the discount card behind the counter. The RoadRunner one even covers pet medicine.

Allan Neff

South Portland

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