USA
Unprecedented National Program to Help Millions of Uninsured Americans Get the Prescription Medicines
By Partnership for Prescription Assistance
Apr 11, 2005, 20:07

A national coalition today kicked off the largest-ever private-sector program to help patients who lack prescription coverage get access to the medicines they need. The partnership includes pharmaceutical companies, doctors, nurses, pharmacists, other health care providers, patient advocates and community leaders.

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is launching a substantial awareness-raising initiative aimed at encouraging as many eligible patients as possible to apply for public and private patient assistance programs.

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is also working with local community leaders in all 50 states to encourage patients to enroll.

"We believe we have a responsibility to not only invent new medicines but to help those in need obtain them," said Billy Tauzin, president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). "This extraordinary new partnership exemplifies our unwavering commitment to helping America's uninsured."

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance 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. Patients will also receive information on government programs for which they may qualify, such as Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Programs. As the only resource that brings together nearly all existing patient assistance programs, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance provides a central navigation system that helps patients get access to needed medicines.

To find out if they may qualify, patients can visit a user-friendly Web site or call toll-free to speak with a trained specialist who can provide application assistance in English, Spanish and more than 150 other languages. Millions of patients have received free or nearly free medicines through these programs, and millions more may qualify.

"This program takes a big burden off my shoulders. I can't miss my medication. I have to take it. Before, I couldn't afford it and didn't know what to do," said Gerri Forster, from Coventry, Rhode Island. "Now, I can focus on my family and my health."

More than 50 national organizations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Physician Assistants, American College of Emergency Physicians, the NAACP, National Alliance for Hispanic Health, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, National Association of Chain Drug Stores, National Medical Association, National Urban League and United Way of America, as well as hundreds of state and local organizations, are working with America's pharmaceutical companies to spread the word about the program.

"Millions of Americans already benefit from patient assistance programs, but we know that millions more who may be eligible have not yet enrolled," said Mary E. Frank, M.D., president of the American Academy of Family Physicians. "Because of this effort on the part of the pharmaceutical industry to simplify and broaden their assistance programs, each patient's personal physician will find it easier to help them get the medications they need. That's why the American Academy of Family Physicians recommends this program to those we serve."

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