Residents saving with drug plan
ATHENS, Tenn. - Athens residents who are enrolled in a prescription drug discount program have saved more than $400,000 on more than 31,000 filled prescriptions since 2009, records show.
The program, administered through the National League of Cities, helps residents who don't have health insurance or traditional benefit plans that cover prescription drugs.
Athens City Manager Mitch Moore told The Daily Post Athenian that the city pays just $2,000 in membership fees each year to provide the discount plan to residents free of charge.
The discount card provides an average savings of up to 20 percent off the regular retail prices of prescription medications. Other cities in Tennessee also provide the discount program, including Memphis, but Athens' program accounts for 41 percent of the state's total savings.
Newborns to get heart screening
NASHVILLE - Starting Tuesday, newborn babies in Tennessee will be screened for congenital heart defects with a device called a pulse oximeter.
Although few newborns in Tennessee have heart defects, the defect can be fatal if not treated.
Dr. Stuart Shapira with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told WPLN-FM that the pulse oximeter is a painless way to measure the amount of oxygen in a baby's blood.
Sessions coming on genealogy
DALTON, Ga. - The Whitfield-Murray County Historical Society will sponsor genealogy workshops in January and February at the Crown Gardens and Archives, according to a news release.
Sarah Roach and Jean Drew, genealogists with the Daughters of the American Revolution, will conduct the workshops on topics including Organizing Your Records (beginning level); Finding Census and Other Records on the Computer (beginning/intermediate level); Walking Back on the Paper Trail (intermediate level); Finding of Women Ancestors; Beginning Cherokee Genealogy Research; and Rigor of Proof-Lineage Societies (all levels).
Email wmhs@optilink.us to enroll. For more information, call 706-278-0217.
Counseling grants awarded
ATLANTA - The Georgia Department of Human Services has announced it will award grants to some of the state's Aging and Disability Resource Connection centers to provide counseling to families looking for long-term care facilities.
Officials Wednesday said $150,000 will be split among Mercy Senior Care in Rome, Mayo Clinic Health System in Waycross and the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon.
Among other things, the grants will help facilitate counseling aimed at weighing consumer preferences.