Drug Discount Card Saved Brooklynites Over $900K, Officials Said

The BigAppleRx Prescription Drug Card—a public-private partnership between the city and healthcare management company HealthTrans—has saved Brooklyn residents $904,000 in prescription costs .

Altogether, it’s saved New Yorkers more than $4.5 million, according to Brooklyn Borough President Markowitz.

The card is available to anyone living in, working in, or visiting New York City, regardless of age, income, citizenship or health insurance status, and saves users about 15 percent average on brand name drugs and 53 percent average on generic drugs.

The card is available at city agencies and council offices, neighborhood businesses, community and faith-based organizations. It can also be printed online at www.nyc.gov's BigAppleRX page.

Besides prescriptions, the card also provides savings on flu shots as well as some over-the-counter medications, such as smoking-cessation aids and diabetes supplies.

 “At a Brooklyn promotion of the BigAppleRx card on Fulton Mall last October, I predicted that the ‘Rx’ would mean how ‘really excited’ Brooklynites and New Yorkers will get about a free prescription discount card that helps them purchase the medications they need," Markowitz said.  

"Here we are nearly $900,000 in Brooklyn savings later – $4.5 million citywide – and it’s apparent that the BigAppleRx card is just what the doctor ordered for saving money on life-improving – and life-sustaining – prescription drugs," he added. "This card saves more than just money – it saves lives."