UR adopted a new prescription drug program to assist students without existing coverage.
The new program will help alleviate the financial burden for students without existing coverage.
The coverage is provided by the Aetna Pharmacy Network Access Card Program, a subsidiary of The Chickering Group – a company that specialized in covering the health insurance needs of college students.
The prescription drug coverage is available to students even if they do not subscribe to any other Chickering or Aetna health insurance plans.
However, the program is not recommended for students with existing prescription drug coverage.
The Pharmacy Network Access Card costs $25 for a student.
Students can use the card at participating pharmacies to receive an average savings of 39 percent on brand name drugs and 10 percent on generic drugs.
There are roughly 50 participating pharmacies near campus, including Strong Memorial Hospital’s Outpatient Pharmacy.
Many students believe that this new program will be very successful.
“From what I have heard so far, a lot of students are planning on taking advantage of this program,” sophomore John Ray said. “I know it is great for me because I already subscribe to Aetna, so it is cool that the school is showing interests in helping my health plan out.”
While the program does not apply to University Health Service dispensary drugs, UHS drugs are available at a lower cost than the same drugs purchased with the Access Card at participating pharmacies.
UHS maintains a stock of roughly 50 of its most commonly prescribed medications.
Debate team enjoys successful season
Ranked fourth in the nation, the debate team has had three successful tournaments this season.
“We have had a very successful season so far,” senior Patrick Hitchcock said. “We are all very excited.”
During the first tournament of the year, at King’s College, Hitchcock made it to the final round, along with novice team freshman Ryan Bach and junior Iskra Miralem, in their first tournament ever.
“I think they did a lot of preparation ahead of time,” debate coach Ken Johnson said. “Even before the season had started they had done a lot of research and extra preparation, which was great for them. They really got a jumpstart.”
At the same tournament, sophomore Buddy Khan and freshman Rohan Naik made it to the quarterfinals in their division.
In their second tournament at the University of Buffalo, Khan and Naik won.
Bach and Miralem made it to the finals again.
The most recent tournament took place at the West Point Military Academy, where Bach and Miralem made it to the finals in the novice tournament.
“This was one of the largest divisions of the year, consisting of 50 teams,” Hitchcock said.
Kahn and junior Ben Wittwer made it to the quarterfinals.
“Every season is unique and this season is very strong,” Johnson said. “Right now we’re ranked fourth in the nation, but we can always improve. We need more recruits to come in and help put us over the top.”
The debate team meets every Monday and Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Morey 100.
