Find help defraying some medication costs
Web sites detail drug company programs
Pharmacists looking for ways to pay for the prescription medications of indigent patients often have turned to pharmaceutical manufacturers’ medication assistance programs.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers typically offer three types of assistance programs to help these patients obtain either the medications or insurance coverage to pay for them, say researchers from the College of Pharmacy at the University of Georgia in Athens and the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. Their study, "Medication assistance program for uninsured and indigent patients," was published in the June 15, 2000, issue of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (57:1131-1136).
Most programs provide free prescription medications to patients who meet specific financial criteria, the researchers say. These criteria include not qualifying for third-party-payer assistance or having insufficient income or assets to afford medications, the guidelines of which are established by the company. Some programs help determine the scope of a patient’s insurance coverage for medications, help identify billing problems, and attempt to resolve claim denials, they add. Still other programs offer payment-limitation programs for expensive and long-term medications. In these programs, the pharmaceutical company pays all costs exceeding a limit predetermined by the company.
Finding information, though, can be challenging. Here are four free web sites that can help facilitate access to patient assistance programs:
This site was developed by Volunteers in Health Care, a not-for-profit organization based in Pawtucket, RI, that focuses on indigent-care issues. The site provides information for about 100 pharmaceutical manufacturer programs that usually offer a limited supply of free prescription medication to eligible patients. Providers can search the RxAssist database by company name, brand name, generic name, or drug class. On-line forms are available for more than 40 companies and can be viewed and printed. RxAssist is updated continuously and recently added free patient tracking software, which is available to institutions on a CD-ROM or 11 floppy disks.
This web site is managed by a patient advocacy group. The site includes links to the manufacturer’s web site for specific drugs, if the manufacturers have them. There is no charge to the web site, but a printed manual is available at a cost of $99.95.
This web site is supported by venture capitalists and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) in Washington, DC. The site provides on-line application forms that are submitted directly to the pharmaceutical company for processing. The web site retains patient information, has a tracking system, and minimizes mistakes by confirming that all form fields are completed correctly. Please note that the use of RxHope.com is limited to prescribers, certain advocacy organizations, and safety net hospitals.
Member companies of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) created this directory. The directory lists company programs that provide drugs to physicians whose patients could not otherwise afford them. The programs are listed alphabetically by company. Under the entry for each program is information about how to make a request for assistance, which prescription medicines are covered, and basic eligibility criteria.
Other sites require a fee, such as:
This site provides information and forms necessary to access more than 145 pharmaceutical manufacturers’ patient assistance programs. It has the ability to upload patient and doctor profiles into the system that can be used to automatically fill out the forms. A tracking module also is offered. A monthly fee is required.
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