OTTUMWA — The Wapello County Board of Supervisors are considering ending the prescription drug card program they joined in favor of a new program they think can reach more people.

The program offered a drug card to virtually every resident in Wapello County. The board knew there were some people who would not be interested, like those who were already satisfied with their insurance coverage, but they also thought there would be a large group that would pick up the no-cost cards.

That didn’t happen.

“We expected thousands of people to come in, and we did not get thousands of people,” said Board Chairman Jerry Parker.

The current agreement allows the county to opt out of the program with 60 days’ notice. Supervisors said the county can leave at the end of July, which puts the deadline for formal notice of the decision at the end of this month.

The biggest single change in the new card program is that the company plans to send a direct-mailing ad to every Wapello County household. The supervisors think that will greatly expand the number of people who eventually take part.

Numbers on just how many people participated in the current program are hard to come by. Parker said he is trying to work with local pharmacies to pin down figures, but it isn’t easy.

The board said it wants people who took advantage of the current card to be aware that changes are coming. They won’t have to pay to pick up the new prescription card when it goes into effect, but the old ones will no longer work.

“The downside as with any transition is some people won’t know about it,” said Supervisor Steve Siegel.

Meanwhile, the supervisors also backed a tax abatement for Evangelical Church Belen during Tuesday’s meeting. The church missed a deadline for getting a new property exempt and received a tax bill for it.

“The treasurer’s office sent them over to me. They’re a church, so they’re eligible. They purchased a building, the problem with this is sometimes when [a church] purchases a building they don’t do it in a timely fashion and the taxes are still sent out,” Parker said. “On this year, these were already there. Even though it’s listed on the tax statement as a church, they were still listed as owing $2,700.”

The board unanimously voted to abate the taxes.

Matt Milner can be reached at (641) 683-5359 or via e-mail at mwmilner@mchsi.com