Pick drug discount cards that best suit your needs

Despite the negative publicity and the political debates, the new drug-discount cards approved by Medicare can save you money. Low-income seniors — with annual incomes up to $12,569 for singles and $16,862 for couples — are guaranteed to save: Their cards will come loaded with a credit for $600 worth of medicine.

Even without the credit, a card will likely save you more than its cost of about $30 a year. To see which cards are available to you, visit www.medicare.gov or call the Medicare help line (1-800-633-4227). You'll probably have several choices, depending on where you live, but you can only sign up for one Medicare-approved card.

As cost-comparison studies have shown, you can't rely on a Medicare-approved card to be your only source of drug discounts.

"The discount card is just another tool in the arsenal," says Elinor Ginzler, manager of independent living and long-term care for AARP.

In addition to one Medicare-approved card, you can have a pocketful of other drug-discount cards — such as those issued by a local pharmacy, AARP or a pharmaceutical company. The Together Rx card, for example, isn't part of the Medicare-approved program but offers 20 percent to 40 percent discounts on about 155 drugs from its seven member pharmaceutical companies. To qualify for this card, your income must be less than $28,000 if you're single or $38,000 if you're married.

Deborah Russak, a 70-year-old retiree from Washington, is something of a poster child for how to play the drug-discount card game. Her prescriptions used to cost as much as $1,000 a year. But even before Medicare-approved cards debuted, she managed to cut her costs in half with other drug-discount cards and assistance programs.

She carries a Together Rx card, which gives her a 25 percent discount on her cholesterol medication. She also has cards from AARP and CVS, which take 20 percent to 25 percent off the cost of her other prescription drugs. And she gets her Cozaar, a blood-pressure medication, free through Merck's prescription-assistance program for low-income people. She's already saving so much that she only plans to sign up for a Medicare-approved card if she qualifies for the $600 credit.

To search for other discount cards and programs, see the National Council on the Aging's Web site, www.BenefitsCheckUpRx.com the Medicare Rights Center's site, "Help Paying for Prescription Drugs," at www.medicarerights.org and the pharmacy industry's site at www.HelpingPatients.org.