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Prescription Drug Assistance Programs

If you or a loved one is in need of assistance to obtain prescription medications, there are several resources available to help. There are websites that provide a lot of information for the under-insured, the non-insured, and those whose insurance simply does not cover medications. Two of the sites will require you to provide personal information, but they both maintain they have privacy protection that stipulates information will be kept confidential.

  1. Partnership for Prescription Assistance

    • PPA works with hundreds of private assistance programs.

      PPA is the Partnership for Prescription Assistance program. Its website states that the program is free and confidential and helps patients find medications for free or at a discount. The program boasts it has helped over six million people since it was begun in 2005. The program works with 475 public and private assistance programs and covers over 2,500 brand-name prescription medications and generic drugs. The website can be accessed at www.pparx.org. Patients can also call a PPA representative at 1-888-4PPA-NOW to speak with someone who will guide them through the application process.

    RxAssist

    • RxAssist is different from PPA in that it is a website that uses a database to pair needy patients with prescription medication assistance programs. According to its website, RxAssist was created by the nonprofit organization Volunteers in Health Care, a program associated with Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, a teaching hospital affiliated with Brown University. The service provides patients with information from pharmaceutical companies on their low-cost or free drug programs. You have to register with the organization and include the name of the drug you need assistance with. Its website can be accessed at www.rxassist.org. From there, go to either the Patient or Provider Center link.

    NeedyMeds

    • NeedyMeds issues discount drug cards. Its website claims that the cards can save patients up to 80 percent of the cost of prescription medications, over-the-counter drugs, and even pet medications, but acknowledges in small print that you may save nothing on low-cost drugs, like generics, and that it doesn't partner with Medicare and Medicaid. The company advertises that its cards are accepted at over 60,000 pharmacies in the United States, and include CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid along with local, independent drug stores. A card can be immediately issued through the website, and no personal information needs to be supplied. All you have to do is click on the "HERE" link, and a window pops up with the paper card available for printing. A plastic discount card can be obtained by sending $5 through Paypal via the website. The address is www.needymeds.org.

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