WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS Health plans to serve up discounts on certain medications via a new prescription drug savings program called Reduced Rx.

CVS said Thursday that Reduced Rx is designed to help patients with high out-of-pocket costs afford vital medications. The discounts will be offered directly to patients through CVS Caremark, the company’s pharmacy benefit management unit.

For example, through Reduced Rx, CVS Caremark and program participant Novo Nordisk will offer Novolin R, Novolin N and Novolin 70/30 human insulin at a cost of $25 per 10-ml vial, which CVS said represents a potential savings of up to $100 for cash-paying patients.

“We developed the Reduced Rx prescription savings program with Novo Nordisk because we both recognized a need and an opportunity to make critical medications more affordable for patients. This savings program will leverage CVS Caremark’s expertise in providing lower-cost prescription drugs and fulfill our company’s purpose of helping people on their path to better health,” CVS Health executive vice president and chief operating officer Jon Roberts said in a statement.

Patients will be able to enroll in Reduced Rx starting in May. CVS said it plans to expand the savings program to other drugs and conditions after its initial offering with Novo Nordisk.

“With nearly 10% of the U.S. population living with diabetes, ensuring patients have access to affordable insulin is more important than ever,” stated Troy Brennan, executive vice president and chief medical officer at CVS Health. “We’re pleased that our Reduced Rx prescription savings program can help assure that effective medications are also affordable.”

Patients who participate in Reduced Rx will be able to buy discounted medications at the more than 67,000 pharmacies in the CVS Caremark retail network, including the 9,700-plus CVS Pharmacy locations. In the program, patients can’t use any prescription drug insurance coverage and must pay out of pocket.

“This program underscores how important collaboration is to addressing the affordability challenges patients face in certain health plans or who remain uninsured,” commented Doug Langa, senior vice president and head of North America operations at Novo Nordisk. “We all have a role to play, and that’s why we welcomed the chance to work with CVS Health on this program. We’re committed to developing sustainable solutions with customers and will continue to pursue opportunities to ensure that patients have access to insulin that is affordable.”