To amend section 173.06 and to enact sections 173.061 and 173.062 of the Revised Code to create a prescription drug discount program for Ohio residents who are age 60 or older or disabled and to provide that records identifying recipients of Golden Buckeye cards or prescription drug discount cards issued by the Department of Aging are not public records.

Section 1. That section 173.06 be amended and sections 173.061 and 173.062 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 173.06.  (A) The director of aging shall establish a golden buckeye card program and provide a golden buckeye card to any resident of this state who applies to the director for a card and who is sixty years of age or older or disabled. The director shall devise programs to provide benefits of any kind to card holders, and encourage support and participation in them by all persons, including governmental organizations. Card holders shall be entitled to any benefits granted to them by private persons or organizations, the laws of this state, or ordinances or resolutions of political subdivisions. This section does not require any person or organization to provide benefits to any card holder. The department of aging shall bear all costs of the program, except that the department is not required to bear any costs related to the prescription drug discount program established pursuant to section 173.061 of the Revised Code.

(B) Before issuing a golden buckeye card to any person, the director shall establish the identity of any person who applies for a card and shall ascertain that such person is sixty years of age or older or disabled. The director shall adopt rules under Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to prevent the issuance of cards to persons not qualified to have them. Cards shall contain the signature of the card holder and any other information the director considers necessary to carry out the purposes of the golden buckeye card program under this section. Any card that the director issues shall be held in perpetuity by the original card holder and shall not be transferable to any other person. A person who loses his the person's card may obtain another card from the director upon providing the same information to the director as was required for the issuance of the original card.

(C) No person shall use a golden buckeye card except to obtain a benefit for the holder of the card to which the holder is entitled under the conditions of the offer.

(D) As used in this section, "disabled person" means a person who has some impairment of body or mind that makes the person unfit to work at any substantially remunerative employment that he or she the person is substantially able to perform and that will, with reasonable probability, continue for a period of at least twelve months without any present indication of recovery therefrom, or who has been certified as permanently and totally disabled by an agency of this state or the United States having the function of so classifying persons.

Sec. 173.061. (A) As used in this section:

(1) "Prescription drug" means a drug that may not be dispensed without a prescription from a licensed health professional authorized to prescribe drugs.

(2) "Drug," "licensed health professional authorized to prescribe drugs," "pharmacy," and "prescription" have the same meanings as in section 4729.01 of the Revised Code.

(3) "Disabled person" has the same meaning as in section 173.06 of the Revised Code.

(B) The director of aging shall establish a prescription drug discount card program that enables card holders to receive discounts on prescription drugs dispensed at participating pharmacies. A card shall be provided to any resident of this state who applies in accordance with rules adopted by the director pursuant to division (F) of this section and is age sixty or older or is a disabled person.

(C) With approval from the controlling board, the director shall contract with an entity separate from the department of aging to act as the program's administrator. The director shall accept proposals that provide for administration of the program in accordance with rules adopted under division (F) of this section. Proposals must be submitted not later than a date established by the director.

The director shall contract with the program's administrator on the basis of the proposals submitted, but may require the administrator to modify its conduct of the program in accordance with rules adopted under division (F) of this section. The director shall adopt rules specifying the period for which the contract will be in effect and may terminate the contract if the administrator fails to conduct the program in accordance with its proposal or with any modifications required by rule. When the contract period ends or the contract is terminated, the director shall enter into a new contract in the manner specified in this section for the original contract. Prior to making a new contract, the director may modify the rules for administration of the program.

(D) The rules for administration of the program established under division (C) of this section may permit the administrator to charge a fee for the prescription drug discount card. The fee may be a one-time or periodic fee. If the rules permit a fee to be charged, each entity that submits a proposal under which a fee will be charged shall specify the amount of the fee and the period to which the fee will apply.

If the administrator charges a fee for the prescription drug discount card, the rules may require the administrator to issue the cards. If the administrator does not charge a fee, the rules may require the administrator to issue the cards or may include the prescription drug discount information on golden buckeye cards issued under section 173.06 of the Revised Code.

(E) As used in this division, "administrator" includes the administrator's parent company and any subsidiary of the parent company.

(1) The administrator shall not sell any information concerning a person who holds a prescription drug discount card, other than aggregate information that does not identify the cardholder, without the cardholder's written consent.

(2) Unless the administrator has the cardholder's written consent, the administrator shall not use any personally identifiable information concerning a cardholder that it obtains through the program to promote or sell a program or product offered by the administrator that is not related to the administration of the program. This division does not prohibit the administrator from contacting cardholders concerning participation in or administration of the program, including, but not limited to, mailing a list of pharmacies participating in the program's network.

(F) The director shall adopt rules in accordance with Chapter 119. of the Revised Code that do all of the following:

(1) Specify how a resident may apply to receive a prescription drug discount card;

(2) Provide for the administration of the program;

(3) Specify the circumstances under which the director may require the administrator to modify its conduct of the program;

(4) Specify the duration of the contract;

(5) Specify whether the administrator may charge a fee for the card and whether the administrator is required to issue the cards;

(6) Require that the administrator permit any pharmacy willing to comply with the administrator's terms and conditions for participation in the program's network to participate in any network used by the administrator for the program;

(7) Prohibit the administrator from requiring a pharmacy to participate in the program's network as a condition of participation in another network operated by the administrator.

Sec. 173.062. Records identifying the recipients of golden buckeye cards issued under section 173.06 of the Revised Code or prescription drug discount cards issued under section 173.061 of the Revised Code are not public records subject to inspection or copying under section 149.43 of the Revised Code and may be disclosed only at the discretion of the director of aging.

Section 2. That existing section 173.06 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.