Help With Prescriptions During These Difficult Economic Times

 

The current economic conditions in this country, is having an impact on many people’s ability to purchase their prescription medicine. Some of the drug manufacturers are helping to provide additional prescription drug help. One large company, Merck, which manufactures Singulair for asthma, Januvia for diabetes and Fosamax for osteoporosis, has changed their guidelines on the amount of total annual income a family can make and still qualify for free prescription drug help. Now, single people making less than $43,000 can qualify for help with prescriptions. For a family of four, the limit is $88,000 or less.  Merck claims that it has helped over 1.7 million patients with $1.9 billion of medicine over the last seven years.

 Another company making a splash is Biogen.“We are committed to helping patients, and that commitment is evident in the $140 million of financial assistance we provided in 2008,” spokesperson Shannon Altimari from drug maker Biogen says. Biogen Idec provides help for prescription Avonex and Tysabri which is used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis.

The giant manufacturer Pfizer, the maker of Lipitor and Viagra, announced a program earlier this year called Maintain. This program provides free medicine to unemployed patients who need prescription drug help. Maintain is just one of several patient assistance programs that the company offers.

 AstraZeneca just announced that it was changing its medication assistance program to provide assistance sooner to certain patients. The company’s program offers free medicine or low-cost medicine to uninsured, low-income patients. AstraZeneca said in a statement that it “would immediately extend assistance to qualifying patients who have lost their jobs, had their incomes reduced or had a change in marital status or family size”. The company said these types of patients had been having problems qualifying for prescription drug help because their tax returns showed too high an income. Qualifying patients can now enroll by providing documentation of their current income and family size, AstraZeneca said.

How Ophthalmologists Can Help Low-Income Patients Obtain Prescription Medications

 

As the cost of prescription medicine continues to increase, many Americans do not have adequate insurance coverage for this expense. Actual spending on prescription drugs in the United States rose 17.1% from 2005 to 2006 while the average cost of prescription drugs rose 10.1%. Lower income Americans may be forced to choose between paying for essential medications or food.

A recent Harris Poll of 1100 adults found that 22% of those surveyed had not filled at least 1 prescription for medications during the year to save money. The problem is even greater in households with lower incomes. In households with incomes less than $25,000, 40% did not fill at least 1 prescription, and 30% took prescription medications less often than prescribed to save money. Along with multiple medications for hypertension, diabetes, or other systemic illnesses, ophthalmology patients often require long-term medications for the treatment of glaucoma, uveitis, or dry eye. Ophthalmology patients may view expensive sight-saving medicine as nonessential, especially when prioritizing the many systemic medications they require each month.

There are many ways ophthalmologists can help their uninsured or low-income patient obtain their much needed medicine at no cost, directly from the pharmaceutical manufacturers. Virtually all drug manufacturers offer assistance programs for those who have no prescription drug coverage and whose income falls below certain levels. These programs are not widely publicized, and many ophthalmologists and other healthcare professionals may be unaware of the programs. There are several ways to obtain information regarding these programs. The American Academy of Ophthalmology (San Francisco, CA) publishes the Directory of Ophthalmic Pharmaceutical Assistance Programs for the Medically Underserved. This directory was created by the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s EyeCare America program. This guide is free to ophthalmologists and provides an alphabetical list of ophthalmic medications and the manufacturer of each medication. The manufacturers are subsequently listed with information regarding the assistance programs of each manufacturer.

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) (Washington, DC) provides a list of manufacturers’ advertised patient assistance programs free of charge.

A review of several manufacturers’ patient assistance programs reveals that these programs are currently being used by many who are aware of the programs. Patients must apply separately to each company for each medication and reapplication is typically required every 3 months. Patients may need to provide proof of income such as a tax return or notarized affidavit of financial need. Drugs are either shipped directly to the patient or to the physician’s office. Several of the applications require the physician to fill out applications on behalf of the patient. This paperwork may be burdensome but ultimately, as the patient’s advocate, the physician may be able to ensure that patients will receive sight-saving medications and avoid a potential decision between paying for food or paying for prescriptions.

There are several prescription assistance companies that act as an advocate for the patient and provide a valuable service. These companies will complete all the paperwork, coordinate the physician’s portion and appeal any denials, which is common. For patients that have multiple medications and other physicians in addition to their ophthalmologists these firms provide a very valuable service. 

 

Additional resources that might be able to help are:

www.BenefitsCheckUp.org
BenefitsCheckUp helps thousands every day to find programs for people ages 55 and older that may pay for some of their costs of prescription drugs, health care, utilities, and other essential items or services.

www.Eldercare.gov  Locator
A public service of the U.S. Administration on Aging, the Eldercare Locator connects older Americans and their caregivers with sources of information on senior services. The service links those who need assistance with state and local area agencies on aging and community-based organizations that serve older adults.

Medicaid – www.cms.hhs.gov
The official U.S. government Medicaid site for consumers, with links to state-administered programs.

www.Medicare.gov
The official U.S. government site for people with Medicare.

www.Rxhelp4u.com A Prescription Assistance Company

www.RxAssist.org
RxAssist provides qualified low-income individuals and families with access to generic versions of brand name medications.

Social Security Online – www.ssa.gov
The official Web site of the U.S. Social Security Administration.

www.rxhelpforwa.org

 

www.rxhelpforwa.org is a very helpful site for patients that live in the state of Washington and need assistance with their expensive prescription medicine. This is a do-it-yourself website and is very complete. It will require the patient to fill out all of the information, determine what proof of income is needed, obtain the needed physician information and submit the forms to the drug companies. The patient is also responsible for all of the follow up and appeals if there is a denial (which isn’t uncommon). The patient is also responsible for the refill process down the road.

If the patient only has one or two medicines that they need help with and are pretty well organized, then this site should be helpful. However, if the patient is on several medications and needs someone to help them, then they should probably enlist the services of a fee based professional firm such as Rx Help. For a small monthly fee, Rx Help will complete all of the paperwork, coordinate with your physician, handle all appeals and track the refill process for you.

Help with prescriptions is very important for those that need it. If you live in WA and can do it yourself then you should check out www.rxhelpforwa.org. If you need someone to help you and work on your behalf, please contact Rx Help.

Prescription Drug Help for Crohn’s Disease

 

Crohn’s disease falls within the broad category of disorders called Inflammatory Bowel Disease. It is a chronic, recurrent disease characterized by inflammation of any portion of the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus. About a third of all Crohn’s disease cases involve only the small bowel. Another half of all cases involve the small bowel and colon, and the remaining 20 percent of all cases affect the colon alone. The exact cause of Crohn’s disease is not known. Crohn’s disease occurs because of an abnormal immune response in the intestinal tract. This is caused by unknown environmental factors. There is no evidence that diet is involved in causing Crohn’s disease. The disease usually occurs between the ages of 15 and 35, but it has been reported in other age groups as well. It is more common in Caucasians and Jews. While viruses and bacteria can cause colitis (inflammation of the colon), there is very little evidence that infections actually lead to Crohn’s disease. Cigarette smoking however is frequently associated with the onset and worsening of Crohn’s disease.

The treatment of Crohn’s disease focuses on relieving the symptoms of the disease. This is accomplished by prescribing medicines that reduce the inflammation in the intestinal tract. Common drugs used to treat Crohn’s disease are aminosalicylates, steroids, antibiotics, anti-TNF agents, and immunomodulators. The primary method for inducing remission in severe Crohn’s disease continues to be oral or intravenous corticosteroids such as prednisone. Steroids work by reducing inflammation throughout the body and thus long-term use is associated with many side effects like osteoporosis, diabetes, and hypertension. Results have been obtained with the use of Entocort, a corticosteroid with high topical anti-inflammatory activity. This medication, though costly, can reduce the intestinal inflammation while minimizing the side effects that would commonly be experienced with prednisone.

Other drugs often used in Crohn’s disease are Asacol, Pentasa, Azulfidine, and Colaza. These medicines are quite safe, but may require large doses. Immunomodulatory drugs such as Imuran, Azasan and Purinethol are often effective in maintaining remission of Crohn’s disease. These medications are used long-term and require monitoring to prevent adverse effects. They work by changing the way certain inflammatory cells in the intestinal lining respond to inflammatory triggers. Remicade is a powerful anti-inflammatory drug that blocks the action of a specific molecule called tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a key mediator of the inflammatory process in Crohn’s disease. It is indicated for perianal Crohn’s disease or intestinal disease not responding to the usual first-line medications. This drug is actually a synthetic antibody and is given as an intravenous infusion for both induction and maintenance of remission.

It is important to note that Crohn’s disease is a manageable condition that affects as many as one million people in the United States. If you experience symptoms associated with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, talk to a physician about your symptoms. Help is available.