As Advocacy for Patients finds new resources, we will share them with you by posting links here.
I recently met a long-time patient advocate who specializes in prescription drug patient assistance programs. She has given me the following links:
www.familiesusa.org - mostly Medicare, but excellent info on the new Medicare drug benefit.
www.needymeds.org - will help patients access patient assistance programs that can result in free meds for patients who can't afford their meds or insurance.
www.pparx.org - bringing together pharmaceutical companies, doctors, other health care providers, patient advocacy organizations and community groups to help qualifying patients.
www.rxhope.com - research government and corporate sponsored patient assistance programs for over 1000 medications.
There are two organizations that provide co-pay assistance to patients who can't afford the co-pays for their medications.
Patient Access Network Foundation 1-866-316-7263. Benefits under this program are limited to certain amounts for certain diseases, but eligible families can continue to re-apply annually. This program can run as a reimbursement program for expenses already paid by the family, or pay expenses directly to a physician or hospital if coordinated by the family.
Patient Advocate Foundation 1-866-512-3861. This program provides assistance to patients with specific diseases, and the primary program helps with only pharmaceutical services. The Patient Advocate Foundation has a separate branch of the program that provides case management services to help secure funding for the costs and deductibles associated with co-pays for non-medication related health-care services, such as procedures, radiology needs and outpatient visits. They can be contacted separately, and directly, at 1-800-532-5274.
Finally, we just heard of a great website that will help you manage your medications -- help you remember to take them and when; remind you to order refills; allow you to keep a current list on the internet that you can print whenever you like -- and it's entirely FREE. Check it out here.
Advocacy for Patients has not had direct experience with all of these, but we urge you to explore them -- and please share your feedback so we can evaluate the various organizations.