By Eli Ruiz
MONTICELLO — August 23, 2005 – Sullivan County now has a prescription drug discount card to call its own.
Sullivan County Legislator Ron Hiatt and Tula Brown, a health insurance Information Counselor for the Sullivan County Office for the Aging, presided over the kickoff for Sullivan County’s new National Association of Counties discount drug card at the Ted Stroebele Recreation Facility in Monticello last Thursday.
The drug card is available to all Sullivan County residents regardless of age or financial status and can be used at local pharmacies to reduce the cost of prescription drugs by an average of more than 20 percent. The card is free of charge, will be handed out by volunteers and will be available at several different locations, including all county agencies.
With a slew of Sullivan County legislators – including Leni Binder, Jodi Goodman, Kathy LaBuda, Jonathan Rouis, Sam Wohl and more in attendance – Hiatt and Brown handed out the first card to Monticello resident Erskine Keary.
The card was offered to Sullivan County as a national pilot program, with only 31 counties nationwide making the cut. Sullivan County “slid in,” as Brown put it, as the last of the 31.
Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther lauded Brown’s drive and said, “What would this county do without someone as dynamic as Tula?”
Brown called it a “red letter day for me and for all of Sullivan County.”
County Legislator Chris Cunningham said, “On behalf of Sullivan County, congratulations, and we will keep working to improve life in Sullivan County.”