Are you or someone you know struggling to pay for prescription medicine? If so, you may be able to identify with Peter. Pete is a retired mechanic who suffers from COPD. The majority of his income is supplied by Social Security. He also receives a small monthly pension from the factory he retired from. Pete manages to pay the rent on his tiny apartment, and pay his other bills, but he can’t afford all of the prescriptions he needs to control his condition. Medicare helps Peter out by paying for a part of his medical bills, but his Medicare Part D only pays for his prescriptions until April of each year which is when he falls into that not so sweet donut hole where nothing is covered. Up until he retired, Peter managed to keep a modest savings account in the bank. Since he’s retired, though, he’s been using his savings to buy his prescriptions every month. And now, his account is just about exhausted.

What Pete probably doesn’t know, is that he could be eligible to receive his prescription drugs directly from the manufacturers for free. The manufacturers that offer patient assistance programs are just beginning to advertise that this help is available. Most of the major drug manufacturers including Pfizer, Merck, GlaxoSmithKline , Parke-Davis, Novartis, Wyeth, and nearly a hundred more offer an array of over a thousand free prescription drugs for those who qualify. The pharmaceutical companies decide if they will have a PAP and, if they do, which of their medicines will be available through the program. Some include many or all of the medicines they manufacture while others include only a few. The reasons for these decisions are not something they reveal. Sometimes a medicine or a certain dosage of that medicine will be on a program, then off, and then back on again. Or one dose of the medicine will be on the program but a different dose won’t be.

Although no two programs are exactly the same, most require that the applicant complete an application form. The amount of information required varies. Some programs require detailed medical and financial information, others very little. All require a doctor’s signature. Some patients need drugs for a long time. Most, but not all, programs that cover medicines used to treat chronic diseases offer refills. As you can imagine, this process can at times be very daunting and even overwhelming. Peter was fortunate because he was referred to a prescription assistance company by his physician and was able to receive most of his medicine directly from the drug companies for a small monthly service fee. If you or someone you know are struggling to pay for prescription medicine, I urge you to apply for assistance today. If you qualify, you can get your drugs free from one or more of the assistance programs.

If you have health insurance, your plan may or may not pay for prescription medicine. It depends on what kind of insurance you have. For example, if you have private health insurance through your employer, some or all of the cost of your medicine may be covered. If you have the traditional Medicare plan (sometimes called fee-for-service), your medicine probably isn’t covered. If you have a Medicare managed care plan, some of the cost of your medicine is probably covered. In many cases, the Medicaid plan in your state covers the cost of prescription medicines.

Some state governments offer affordable medicine programs for seniors, people who are disabled and people who have low incomes. Community health centers, Area Agencies on Aging, free health clinics and other community programs may also offer help. To use these services, you may need to show that you don’t qualify for private health insurance or that you don’t make enough money to pay for your medicine.

If you or someone you know are struggling to pay for prescription medicine, there is help available, you just need to be creative and persistent in finding it.

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