Pell City CPA helps seniors lower medicine costs

As many senior adults hope for lower prescription costs starting in June, seniors in the Pell City area already have seen lower drug bills thanks to a ministry started by a man who was simply praying to make a difference.
  
Two years ago, Dennis Livingston was a tax partner at a large accounting firm, a job that kept him busy and required him to be away from home a lot. Livingston enjoyed his job, but the time spent away from his family was taking its toll.
   
“I didn’t think it was right to be away from my family so much,” Livingston said. “I prayed that God would either enable me to be there [in my job] and make a difference or that He would take me out.”
   
About that same time, Livingston and his wife, Lauren, were teaching a Bible study class on the book of Amos at Seddon Baptist Church in Pell City. Through the study God laid a burden on Livingston’s heart.
   
“The study focused on how the rich people and the justice system were taking advantage of poor people and how Amos was sent to expose that situation and show the people how to right their ways,” he said. “God laid it on our hearts that a lot of people were struggling.”
   
In September 2002, Livingston resigned his partnership in the accounting firm and prayed earnestly that God would use him in some way. But it wasn’t until December 2003 when a medical savings card advertisement caught his attention that he found that purpose.
  
When he first saw the card, Livingston was thinking about his mother-in-law, Bette Averyt. A member of Southside Baptist Church in Birmingham and a working senior adult, she was paying about $3,200 each year for prescription drugs. The card claimed to offer discounts on everything from prescriptions to dental services, and Livingston wondered if it was legitimate. With her permission he investigated the card’s benefits and realized she could cut her prescription bills in half.
   
Sensing that he might have found a place of service, Livingston began educating himself about senior adults, Medicare and prescription drug costs. What he learned motivated him to do more.
   
Livingston started going to senior adult meetings in the Pell City area to talk to seniors about some of the programs he had researched. Many were paying high out-of-pocket costs for their prescriptions, and most had no idea there was help available.
   
“I was amazed at how much they didn’t know about these drug discount programs, and I was also amazed at how much they were paying,” he said. “For many, it was taking the majority of their income to pay for their medications.”
   
Livingston developed a questionnaire to take to meetings, asking participants to list their prescriptions and current costs. Based on the responses to the questionnaire, Livingston made recommendations to the individuals about programs that might save them money.
   
The savings were astounding. His first six test cases showed that the group could save more than $30,000 a year in drug costs using programs that were already available to them.
   
Since then, Livingston has helped numerous senior adults find ways to save money on their prescription drugs. In one situation, he figured out that an 89-year-old woman could bring her $7,000 annual drug bills down to $0. A deacon was able to cut his costs from $8,000 to $1,500.
   
The primary purpose of his ministry, Livingston said, is to help senior adults who need their medications but often have trouble paying for them. “There are many programs that been implemented to help seniors on Medicare with their prescription drug costs,” Livingston said, “but not a lot of people know about them.”
   
None of the programs are one-size-fits-all either. Many factors determine which program is best for an individual. “Choosing the right program depends on a person’s income level, their (or their spouse’s) military experience and their prescriptions,” Livingston said. “But there’s a program out there that can help almost anyone.”
   
And while the financial savings are significant, there are other benefits of Livingston’s ministry as well.
Eric Mackey, youth pastor at Seddon Baptist, has seen firsthand the spiritual and emotional lift that senior adults feel when the financial burden of their drug costs is eased.
   
Mackey said that several elderly members of his church have found ways to save thousands of dollars on their prescriptions thanks to Livingston’s help.
   
“They are joyful,” Mackey said. “They thank Dennis, but more importantly, they thank God for sending someone into their lives to help them.”
   
To contact Dennis Livingston, call 205-338-2717.