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Many
drug manufacturers have a history of providing medication
for free or at low-cost to the public through an approved
"health care advocate" - physicians, nursing
homes, etc. Patients, their friends or families are not
considered, for the purposes of these programs, to be
"health care advocates".
-
Generally
speaking, to be eligible for these assistance programs,
patients must:
-
not
have insurance that pays for prescription drugs
-
not
be eligible for Medi-Cal or other federal or state
health coverage that provides prescription drug coverage
-
be
financially needy enough in the eyes of the manufacturers,
and spending enough of your insufficient income on
medical and drug services to meet their unstated criteria
for 'financial need'.
Eligibility
requirements may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer,
so you will need to read up on each manufacturer's requirements
if you need to take several drugs. If the drug you need
isn't listed on the manufacturer's site or other PAP site
or listing, contact the manufacturer's PAP office to see
if they will consider the drug under their PAP.
If
your doctor does not know about patient assistance programs,
or about any programs for the drugs you require but can't
afford, you can print out the relevant pages from the
sites below and give him or her copies of it so that their
office may contact the manufacturer and start the ball
rolling.
AIDS
Drug Assistance Programs
Includes information on various state and federal drug
assistance programs for those with AIDS.
FreeMedicineProgram.com
"...the majority of our applicants have too much
income to quality for government prescription assistance
programs, but not enough to purchase private prescription
drug insurance coverage, or are living on retirement income,
disability or other assistance."
HelpingPatients.org
Helping Patients brings together America’s pharmaceutical
companies, doctors, patient advocacy organizations and
civic groups to help low-income, uninsured patients get
free or nearly free brand-name medicines. Its mission
is to increase awareness of and enrollment in existing
patient assistance programs for those who may be eligible.
Through this site, Helping Patients offers a single point
of access to more than 275 public and private patient
assistance programs, including more than 150 programs
offered by pharmaceutical companies.
Needy
Meds
Links to manufacturers' information by drug name. Service
is free though they do sell a book with all their data
in it which can be useful for doctors, home health care
workers, etc. who frequently need such information and
don't have an Internet-accessible computer handy.
Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
Provides a listing of pharmaceutical manufacturers who
offer some sort of patient assistance program, with links
to basic information on each manufacturer's requirements/terms.
MedicineBridge.org
Volunteer organization which acts as intermediary between
you and your doctor and the drug manufacturers offering
free medication.
The
Medicine Program
Send them the completed Medicine Program form, your scripts,
and a small fee-per-script, and they will do the paperwork
required to apply on your behalf to the various drug company
patient assistance programs.
RXAssist.org
National program sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson
foundation which offers information on public and private
sources of medication assistance.
BlueMarbleMeds.com
US-based company facilitates the filling of prescriptions
in Canada for U.S. citizens, without the patient having
to travel to Canada.
To
find out what other benefits you may be eligible for if
you are disabled or over 55 years of age, check out BenefitsCheckup.org.
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