![Ann Lovell waits to board flight to Mexico for prescriptions](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/430cbde6daa514d3db2d75e43bb384c41229b95a/0_155_5400_3240/master/5400.jpg?width=620&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=9887dc7b8da4f0d68a1de372719d76df)
The year-old programme involves around 10 state employees. The cost savings are so large that the insurance program can pay for each patient’s flight, give them a $500-per-trip bonus and still save tens of thousands of dollars.
One participant, 62-year-old teacher Ann Lovell, said she saved as much as $2,400 by travelling from Salt Lake City to San Diego and then crossing the border, in order to refill a prescription for arthritis medication.