If you missed last week’s sign up for the state Department of Human Services’ discount drug program known as Hawaii Rx Plus, don’t worry. The program has a continuous enrollment, and is for residents who earn too much money for
If you missed last week’s sign up for the state Department of Human Services’ discount drug program known as Hawaii Rx Plus, don’t worry.
The program has a continuous enrollment, and is for residents who earn too much money for Medicaid but cannot afford prescription drugs because their household expenses are too high.
More than a hundred people signed up yesterday at the Waimea, Lihu‘e and Kapa‘a neighborhood centers.
Derick Dahilig, DHS’s public information officer, said the greatest number of applications came from Waimea.
But state representatives think Kaua‘i can do a lot better, and hope to have an additional 200,000 enrollees statewide by this time next year. State officials estimate there are about 300,000 Hawai‘i residents who qualify for the program.
“Kaua‘i had more people enroll than the Big Island, but there are a lot of seniors on Kaua‘i who are eligible,” said Dahilig.
The program has no age limit, no citizenship requirement, no employment requirement and extremely liberal income requirements (see chart).
The program began offering enrollees Medicaid prices for brand-name drugs July 1. Additional discounts above the Medicaid price, based on state-negotiated rebates from drug manufacturers, will start next year, July 1, 2005.
Dahilig says the state will probably return to Kaua‘i for another enrollment drive.
“We want the program to be successful,” he said. “We’ll probably make another effort to come back to the Neighbor Islands.”
Hawaii Rx Plus stems from legislation passed in 2002 creating a state purchasing plan to negotiate discounts on prescription drugs. The idea was to appeal to drug companies by offering them a large, steady supply of customers who would otherwise not be able to afford brand-named drugs.
Many people have chosen to go online to purchase cheaper, generic drugs from other countries.
For applications, call the Aloha United Way at 211, or go to www.hawaiirxplus.com, or the Med-QUEST office at Dynasty Court near the Home Depot at 4473 Pahe‘e St., Suite A, in Lihu‘e.
The phone call is free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week from all islands.
Former Kaua‘i mayor Maryanne Kusaka was a big factor in yesterday’s sign-up success, Dahilig noted.
Kusaka, who was volunteering for Compassion for America, a national program, was accompanying the DHS team to all three sites, starting out in Waimea early in the morning, stopping off at Lihu‘e mid-morning, and finishing at the Kapa‘a location.
Senior citizens who were adjourning the Lihu‘e Neighborhood Center following their morning of activities said Kusaka brought in a “big bunch of people” who were processed there.
