Prescription medications are an important part of healthcare. But a growing
number of individuals lack the health coverage and financial resources to
purchase the medications they need.
Many pharmaceutical manufacturers offer “patient assistance programs”
(PAP) for individuals who would otherwise be unable to afford needed
medications. In fact, in 2004, over 7.2 million free medications were given away
through
U.S. pharmaceutical patient assistance programs.
Each pharmaceutical company has its own income eligibility criteria and
application requirements; therefore, knowing how to access these patient
assistance programs is important (additionally, there
are a variety of other programs, both public and private, that can help
individuals with their medication costs).
There are a number of web sites that can help individuals determine what
programs are available to assist them based on their individual medication
needs, income, age and other factors. These web sites help identify the
applicable prescription assistance programs, provide information on eligibility
criteria and application requirements and, in some cases, include downloadable
versions of the applications.
Here are some sites that provide valuable assistance.
Note that
Human Arc is not responsible for the accuracy/reliability of the information
contained in the websites; we offer these listings only as an educational
service to the populations we serve.
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www.needymeds.com
NeedyMeds, Inc. is a nonprofit corporation that provides information about
patient assistance programs for no-cost prescription medications for eligible
participants. This web site offers lists of brand and generic name
pharmaceuticals, their makers/suppliers, how to apply for their patient
assistance programs, downloadable application forms, information on state and
local healthcare-related assistance programs, answers to many frequently asked
questions, plus a wealth of other knowledge in this area.
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http://www.rxassist.org The RxAssist
Patient Assistance Program Center web site features information, news, answers
to frequently asked questions, and a database that are all designed to
help people in need find out about ways to get affordable or free medications.
The database includes information on a wide array of pharmaceutical companies'
patient assistance programs and programs that provide free medication to low
income patients. RxAssist was created by
Volunteers in Health Care, a national, nonprofit resource center for health care
programs working with the uninsured.
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www.pparx.org The
Partnership for Prescription Assistance brings together drug companies,
doctors, other health care providers, patient advocacy organizations and
community groups to help qualifying patients who lack prescription coverage get
the medicines they need through the public or private program that's right for
them. Many will get them free or nearly free. Organizations
collaborating on this program include, among others, the
American
Academy of Family Physicians, the American Autoimmune Related Diseases
Association, the Lupus Foundation of America, the NAACP, the National Alliance
for Hispanic Health and the National Medical Association.
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www.wehelpmeds.com
WeHelpMeds was created as an easy way to help low income individuals obtain
their prescription drugs free or at a discount. Many pharmaceutical companies
sponsor patient assistance programs to help qualifying people get medicines at
no charge. WeHelpMeds automatically searches hundreds of pharmaceutical, private
and state-sponsored medication programs to provide, in seconds, information
regarding medication assistance programs and qualification status as well as the
needed applications. Because these programs change on a regular basis,
WeHelpMeds constantly searches for new programs, monitors existing ones and
updates its site.
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