BOISE, Idaho — If you are living in Ada County, Idaho, read closely. There is a brand-new county program that includes access to low-cost telemedicine services and increased prescription medicine discounts.
Ada County recently opted into the Live Healthy Discount Program, a service that counties across the country utilize. Ada County Commissioner Kendra Kenyon said having healthy residents impacts not just the individual, but the entire community as well.
“The pandemic and now inflation and escalating health care costs, I just think it's so important that people get the mental health treatment and the medical treatments that they need," Kenyon said. "I think that this is really a role that community members can play and should play."
Commissioner Kenyon said she heard about the Live Healthy Discount Program while at a National Association of Counties (NACO) meeting. A major selling point is the cost to taxpayers.
“It's actually part of our fee that we pay to be a member of NACO. So, it was at no cost to the county, to taxpayers,” Kenyon said.
That’s right, the service comes at no expense to tax payers. Kenyon describes the need in our community right now as "huge."
“Unfortunately, I think Idaho has really been behind in terms of mental health identification and services," Kenyon said. "We really lacked for decades here."
Kenyon said she is passionate about the topic of creating affordable health services, that predates her work as a county commissioner.
“This is the field that I was in. I was a director of therapy for a dual diagnosis hospital. I was in private practice for years. I worked with various hospitals here, and I just really see a need," Kenyon said. "I see people struggling. I see children struggling."
That was illustrated for Kenyon when she visited the Ada County Jail.
“When you go through the jail, they talk to the medical staff in there. We're learning that anywhere from 70-80% of everyone that is in our jail has a drug or alcohol addiction problem, or depression or anxiety, and they're self-medicating," Kenyon said. "So, now our jails are full, and then a lot of these folks, unfortunately, are going on to prison, IDOC. So, it's just spirals, and you know, it's sad to see that people are not getting the help early on when they need, and the cost is exorbitant. So, we can save a lot of money. I'm not sure why we're not investing more upfront in the services that we need to be providing here."
To be clear, the Live Healthy program is not health insurance. The program gives residents of Ada County access to 24/7 telemedicine services provided through the low-fee Health Discount Program. That includes unlimited calls with a clinician without a co-pay.
Residents can also get an average of 30% savings on prescriptions for themselves and their pets through the no-cost discount program.
The Prescription Drug Discount Card comes at no cost. The Health Discount Program, which again includes the no co-pay telemedicine program, costs $5.95 a month.
Commissioner Kenyon believes investing in programs like this can be greatly beneficial on the individual and community level.
“I think if we can be proactive and we can try to help people and they can help themselves more upfront, you know, upstream, then we're not going to get in the problems that we're seeing in our community,” Kenyon said.
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