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In 1999, according to the National Institute for Health Care Management, doctors prescribed 146 drugs for every 100 patients' visits, compared with 109 visits in 1985. In 2000, according to the Council of Health Care Economics and Policy, the average person had 10.3 prescriptions filled compared with 8.3 five years earlier.
Those facts alone strengthen the appeal of Farm Bureau's neighborhood pharmacy program, which assures members good prices on prescription drugs, with savings of 10 to 60 percent on most short-term, acute care medications such as antibiotics and pain killers. Through NBrx, members can be assured to find prescriptions available through over 48,000 national and regional pharmacy chain stores and independent pharmacies nationwide, as well as receive the lowest price in the store that day, regardless of other promotions and discounts.
"And it's easy to use," said Bill Gibson, a NBrx representative. "Better customer service, better flexibility and deeper discounts is what NBrx offers Farm Bureau members."
Gibson said NBrx is seeing a lot of growth, and is available at most national chain and supermarket pharmacies in the state.
"We are actively working with Wal-Mart to have them in our network," he said, speculating the huge discount store will join the network some time next month.
The prescription program has never been easier to use. The mail order pharmacy has the convenience of home delivery with no additional postage or dispensing fees added.
According to NBrx, the mail order pharmacy offers:
•Guaranteed lowest prices on maintenance medications prescribed to treat on-going conditions.
•Saves an average of 10 percent below AARP prices or $5 below the best retail price quote on brand and generic medications over $10.
Members can also find out more information about this exciting benefit in two ways.
One, they can sign up for the mail order pharmacy by contacting 800-800-7616, where they can also find additional information on drug prices and participating pharmacy locations.
Or, members can do their own investigating on the NBrx website, www.nbrxpharmacy.com.
"It gives members a lot of flexibility," Gibson said. "They can go to www.nbrxpharmacy.com, look up the specific drug, the quantity, the milligrams, and hit a button to get pricing. And then, by using a three-digit zip code, pharmacies near your location will be shown, and the cost of the drug that day."
NBrx is the provider for both the Farm Bureau Pharmacy discount program and the Coast to Coast Eyewear program. For questions concerning either program, call toll-free, 1-800-800-7616.
