Background
In 2003, nearly 45 million
were uninsured at some point in time during the year and there
were some 28 million Americans under 200% of the Federal poverty
line. Physicians often see the consequences of this situation
every day, including the inability of patients to pay for the
prescriptions they receive when visiting their health care provider.
Many health care professionals try to help these patients by
putting them together with one of the over 275 programs that
provide prescription drugs to those in need, many of which have
been in existence for 50 years This maze of programs, while
an important lifeline for many, can be challenging to maneuver.
How do you find the right program? How do you keep up with the
changing program requirements? Where do you find the time to
fill out the lengthy forms? What if you run out of forms?
The Partnership for Prescription Assistance
brings together national and local organizations to help low-income,
uninsured patients get free or nearly free medicines through
a “one-stop shop,” via internet and phone, that
links patients and providers to public, private and government
assistance programs (including those run by research-based
pharmaceutical companies, generic pharmaceutical companies,
private foundations, public charities and the state and federal
government). Medicare beneficiaries can also get information
about the new Medicare prescriptions drug benefit.
By answering a series of short questions, patients
(or their caregivers) will find out what programs they are
most likely to qualify for and can apply directly for assistance.
If they need help from more than one program, they only have
to answer common application questions one time-no more filling
out the same information on multiple forms. Beginning April
5, patients will be able to call a toll-free number and get
assistance over the phone from a live trained specialist.
They no longer need access to the internet or to have their
health care professional fill out the forms for them. Trained
operators will work with patients, health care providers or
caregivers to help fill out the necessary forms and send them
to the patient for submission (they need a prescription along
with verification of eligibility). Operators will be available
in English or Spanish and translation services will be offered
for other languages.
In conjunction with over 50 national partners,
the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
will roll out the Partnership for Prescription Assistance
to re-introduce the Partnership’s website (www.pparx.org)
and launch the new toll free phone number. Promotion of the
program will be done through both earned and paid media (TV
and print advertising) as well as significant outreach through
its national partners.
Links
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