For this week’s Community Conversations, host ST Billingsley spoke with Curtis Bradley from the Community Assistance Program, which offers prescription cards to help individuals that are uninsured or under-insured.
Q: What is the organization about?
A: The Community Assistance Program is an organization that helps people that are uninsured and under-insured with discount prescriptions. What we do is, we give you can get a discount prescription card, and you simply take that discount prescription card to a pharmacist, and they’ll give you a discount on your prescriptions.
Q: And how did this program come about? The program started in New Jersey with a different company?
A: Yes it did. Actually not NBDI. National Business Builders Incorporated is our parent company out of New Jersey. They started off selling insurance products, and what they realized was they were getting a large volume call for prescriptions. So what they did was, they actually started the Community Assistance Program to help people – which is an outreach program – to help people with discounts on their prescriptions. One of the–one of the things going on now, are people are either not having insurance, or they do.
Q: So tell me a bit about that, on how that helps people whether they’re not insured or under-insured.
A: Well, in the United States there are 44 million people that are under-insured and there’s 38 people–44 million, excuse me, there are 44 million people that are uninsured, and 38 million that are under-insured. Well, with our card those who are uninsured and under-insured, they can save money on their prescriptions. Because sometimes you may have – you may have insurance, but your insurance may not be as good as the card can give you for a discount.
Q: And what should people look for in the cards? You say there’s more than one kind of discount card out there.
A: Yes. Yes. There’s definitely more than one type of discount card. You actually want to do some research on the company. I mean, we open our mail all the time. You get cards in the mail. You get cards all different ways. But there are fly-by-night companies, they are companies that are not so good. You want to make sure that the company behind the card has the highest rating with the Better Business Bureau. You want to make sure they’ve been around for a while. Because you can get a card that’s not so good. You can use it one day, and then you can go to the pharmacy a month later and it’ll tell you it’s no longer available to you.
Q: And your card–one thing that sets you apart – you’re not required a lot of information to be able to use the card. Tell me a little about that.
A: No information [is actually required] to use the card. The cards are pre-activated. All you have to do is get a prescription. Take the card to the pharmacy and they will fill your prescription. Provided it’s a legal prescription.
Q: And where can they use the card? So you can use it at CVS or Costco? Or Walmart?
A: The card can be used in 80% of the pharmacist in the United States. In this area in the Prince William County, Northern Virginia area, almost every pharmacy in this area will take the card.
Q: And where can you get them?
A: You can get the cards at your local hospital here. Uh, used to be Prince William County Hospital now it’s Sentara. You can get the cards at Manassas in the Manassas Hospital. Some of your local doctors’ offices, or you can go online and actually print a card.
Q: And if you go out of state can still use this card?
A: Yes you can. The good thing is, when you go out of state, you’re typically not in your local area. So you can actually go on a website–you can go on our website ‘www.freecapcard.com’ there’s a pharmacy and drug look-up tab there. If you go to that tab, you can put in your–the zip code where you are.
And your pharmacy and it’ll give you–your, your prescription, and it will actually give you the local pharmacy with the cheapest discount for your card. Such a nice way–to quick look up something, if you need something while you’re out.
