Accessing Prescription Assistance Programs Just Got Easier

If you and your staff have spent countless hours trying to hook up low-income patients with the prescription medications they need but can't afford, you'll welcome a new resource.

A national coalition headed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America launched a nationwide initiative April 5 -- Partnership for Prescription Assistance -- that aims to ease patient, caregiver and physician access to the more than 275 public and private programs providing no-cost or low-cost prescription drugs to low-income patients.

How? By encouraging people to use a new toll-free call center. When callers punch in (888) 477-2669, trained operators take center stage, asking a set of basic questions to ascertain what programs might be available for patients in need.

Both English- and Spanish-speaking operators are available; translators can be provided for 17 languages. The phone line is available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. EDT.

If you'd rather gather information online, visit Partnership for Prescription Assistance.

The Academy is a supporter of the program, and AAFP President Mary Frank, M.D., of Mill Valley, Calif., advises FPs: This is a program worth recommending to patients.

"Millions of Americans already benefit from patient assistance programs,
but we know that millions more who may be eligible have not yet
enrolled," said Frank in a news release. "Because of this effort on the part of the pharmaceutical industry to simplify and broaden their assistance programs, patients' personal physicians will find it easier to help patients get the medications they need." Visit the news release Unprecedented National Program to Help Millions of Uninsured Americans Get the Prescription Medicines They Need.

The PhRMA initiative -- aided by more than 50 national partners -- has enjoyed a successful trial run in Georgia, New Mexico and Wisconsin since last fall. The ready-for-prime-time launch this week comes complete with advertisements in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, USA Today and The Washington Post.

PPA organizers are bent on spreading the word about the program as quickly as possible. Judith Chamberlain, M.D., of Brunswick, Maine, the Academy's representative on the PPA advisory board and a member of the AAFP Board of Directors, spent the morning of April 5 in Boston in front of microphones and TV cameras giving 19 back-to-back satellite media interviews about the program. Her comments aired on radio and TV stations in cities including New York; San Diego; Tucson, Ariz.; and Toledo, Ohio.

In an interview prior to the launch, Chamberlain said she was most impressed by the way the PPA empowered patients to access free or low-cost medication programs. She said in her office, one staff person devoted nearly 100 percent of her time to wading through materials offered by a variety of programs. "While this is a service to our patients, it is costly to our practice," said Chamberlain. "The PhRMA system will allow patients to get the correct forms and information by phone or on the Web site. All we have to do is give patients their prescriptions and sign the forms."