> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Prescription card may benefit seniors looking for solutions - URL: https://www.smdp.com/prescription-card-may-benefit-seniors-looking-for-solutions/ - Published: 2002-10-24T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T00:48:45.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Community, Santa Monica, #archive-import *By Daily Press staff* One of seven big pharmaceutical companies involved in a prescription-drug discount card is bringing its national road-show to Encino’s “Celebrating Longevity Senior Health Fair and Festival” this weekend, and eligible Santa Monica residents are invited to participate in a Saturday enroll-a-thon. The “Together Rx” card debuted in April and is offered free to Medicare enrollees who do not currently have prescription-drug coverage and whose incomes are less than $28,000 for individuals and $38,000 for couples. More than 150 drugs are covered under the plan, including medicines that commonly afflict the elderly, including arthritis, diabetes, cancer, depression and high cholesterol. Discounts can range into the 40 percent neighborhood. Saturday’s event is being hosted by the AstraZeneca company, which joined six other firms in developing the discount program. Others involved are Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, Abbott Laboratories, Aventis SA and Novartis AG. The AstraZeneca booth will be part of the annual Celebrating Longevity festival at 6200 Balboa Boulevard (Balboa Park) from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn and Rushmore Cervantes of the L.A. Department of Aging are scheduled to participate in the Health Fair, which will include activities ranging from a senior citizen talent show to chair aerobics. The prescription drug cards became a bit of a trend over the past year, with several companies offering single-company plans and sparking concerns that elderly patients might have problems sorting out all the options. Drug company officials say the TogetherRx is an attempt to address those concerns. Several of the participating companies folded their own cards into the TogetherRx program. While national Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson has heralded the discount program a “tremendous new imitative,” critics of both drug companies and federal prescription drug policy have been more cautious. Consumer groups have called the program a step in the right direction, but worry that it might take pressure off Congress to tackle broader issues of prescription drug programs to senior citizens. Drug companies agree that more needs to be done, but also say the discount drug cards can provide immediate help for lower income senior citizens. For more information about the TogetherRx discount program, you can visit their Web site at www.togetherrx.com. Sierra Club makes endorsements By Daily Press staff The Sierra Club has announced that it has endorsed candidates Nancy Greenstein and Bill Winslow for the Santa Monica College Board of Trustees. Club leaders cited both candidates’ support for a strong sustainable building policy at Santa Monica College, their support for an expanded environmental studies program, and their overall qualifications for the office, as the leading reasons for the endorsement. The Sierra Club is one of the nation’s oldest and largest environmental organizations, and has approximately 2,200 members in Santa Monica and Malibu. Greenstein and Winslow are the only non-incumbents running for the SMC Board of Trustees in the Nov. 5 election. The Santa Monica College District includes all voters in the cities of Malibu and Santa Monica. There are four seats open, and six candidates running, including four incumbents. Greenstein and Winslow have also received endorsements from the Santa Monica College Faculty Association and the Santa Monica Democratic Club. The six candidates running for election in the SMC Trustees race has been invited to complete a questionnaire on a variety of environmental and educational issues confronting Santa Monica College, and were then invited to be interviewed by a committee of three Sierra Club leaders — Kevin Finney, Howard Strauss, and Peggy Forster. The committee’s recommendation was approved by the Political Committee of the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter, and the Executive Committee of the West Los Angeles Sierra Club Group (which includes Santa Monica, Malibu, and the greater West Los Angeles area). The Sierra Club also endorsed four candidates running for three seats in the Santa Monica City Council race — incumbents Pam O’Connor and Kevin McKeown, and first time candidates Abby Arnold and Josefina Santiago Aranda. The Sierra Club has also endorsed local Assembly Member Fran Pavley for re-election. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 24, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/102402.pdf?ref=smdp.com)