AAFP President Briefs Senate Staffers on New Prescription Assistance Program

AAFP President Mary Frank, M.D., of Mill Valley, Calif., was all business when she told an audience of Senate staffers last month that she's a practicing physician concerned about the patients she sees on a daily basis who can't afford their medications.

Frank, who practices in Rohnert Park, Calif., was in Washington April 29 to spread the word about the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, an initiative launched nationwide April 5 by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. PPA's goal: to match patients with prescription programs that give patients access to free or reduced-cost medications based on financial need. The anticipated end result: improved health and health outcomes for patients.

"This program is about empowering patients and easing the load on physicians," Frank told AAFP News Now in an interview after the Washington meeting.

"The beauty of this program is that I don't have to know the details about the more than 300 prescription assistance programs coming out of both the public and private sector," said Frank. The patient can take the initiative, make the contact through the PPA call center or Web site, and get the information he or she needs to proceed. That information may include a referral to a state or federal assistance program such as the State Children's Health Insurance Program or Medicare -- meaning one phone call could help that patient access resources for total health care, including prescription assistance, said Frank.

During her Washington presentation, Frank talked briefly about the onerous system that for years has frustrated physicians and their patients. Prior to April 5, many physicians trying to utilize the maze of assistance programs gave up, said Frank. Only highly motivated physicians and patients were successful, she added.

The PPA initiative changes all of that "by offering a uniform access point for patients," said Frank.

Frank was joined at the speaker's table by Christian Clymer, PhRMA's senior director of alliance development, and Arlene Gregory, a 63-year-old patient from Illinois with a positive PPA experience to report.

The trio hoped to make a powerful impact on the more than 25 Senate staffers who attended to gather details on the PPA -- including how to help connect constituents back home with the program. Senators sending representatives to the briefing included Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.; Sen. Jim Talent, R-Mo.; Sen. Richard Durban, D-Ill.; Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.; Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.V.; Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C.; and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.