| For Immediate Release | For more information contact: |
| February 10, 2000 | Renae Reedy (651-296-9895) |
A Park Rapids business woman played a key role in government recently when she took it upon herself to talk to Rep. Larry Howes (R-Hackensack) about a troubling problem she was noticing with prescription drug discount cards.
Kathy Craddock, part owner of Park Pharmacy in Park Rapids, had noticed a large number of senior citizens coming into her store with prescription drug discount cards that weren't valid or worth anything in her store. Even worse, the cards looked so similar to insurance cards that many customers believed they were carrying health coverage that would pay their prescription costs.
According to Howes, several companies in Minnesota have been using the discount cards as a marketing gimmick - offering them as incentives for purchasing their products or services. Unfortunately, many drug store owners were never notified of the discount cards and had never agreed to honor them.
"Banks and other businesses are selling discounts for my service without my knowledge or approval," Craddock said. "I can't do that for other businesses."
After discussing the issue with Craddock, Rep. Howes drafted legislation that would limit the sale of such cards and protect consumers from being misled. The bill requires all prescription discount cards to state clearly and prominently that they are not an insurance cards. It also requires companies to sign agreements with individual pharmacies and to list those pharmacies somewhere in the purchasing materials.
"This bill will help protect consumers and give them complete information so they can make wise decisions," Howes said. "I just want to keep everything above-board," he added, "because that's what Minnesotans expect."
Rep. Howes' bill has been approved by the House Health and Human Services Committee and will be debated on the House floor in the next couple of weeks.
"My compliments to him on following through on this," Craddock said, "I was dazzled."
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