Helping uninsured pay for prescription medicines

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Largest Private-Sector Effort to Help Uninsured Pay for Prescription

Medicines Helps 600,000 in First 100 Days

Millions More Could Be Helped, But Unaware They Qualify

Industry Commits to Spend Additional 'Tens of Millions of

Dollars'

to Publicize Programs

WASHINGTON, July 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The Partnership for

Prescription

Assistance (PPA), the largest private-sector effort to assist

patients who

need help paying for prescription medicines, today issued a landmark

report on

its progress. According to the report, " Helping One Patient at a

Time, " the

effort is highly successful in directing new patients to prescription

assistance programs -- helping more than 600,000 patients in just 100

days.

The report also noted that millions more may be missing out on

benefits

because they are either unaware of or do not think they are eligible

for

prescription assistance programs.

The groups behind the PPA include the largest and most

influential in

health care. Among the 1,200 local and national member organizations

are the

American Academy of Family Physicians, Pharmaceutical Research and

Manufacturers of America, American Cancer Society, United Way and the

NAACP --

all staunch advocates of increasing access to medicines for people in

need.

" I use the PPA to reduce my prescription costs from over $1,000

per month

to just under $90, " said Kendall DePascal of San Diego, Calif. " This

program

has been a wonderful experience and is easy to use. "

The PPA offers a single point of access to information about more

than 475

public and private patient assistance programs, including Medicare.

The more

than 600,000 patients successfully matched to programs through the

PPA join

the millions of patients who have contacted individual company

programs

directly.

" We are proud of what the Partnership for Prescription Assistance

has

accomplished in its first 100 days, " said Tauzin, president and

CEO of

the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America

(PhRMA). " But our job

isn't done, and we can do better. We have set our sights on reaching

every

person who needs help. "

To publicize the program and increase awareness, the PhRMA Board

of

Directors recently voted to spend tens of millions of additional

dollars over

the next year.

A recent survey revealed that more than half of all Americans are

unaware

of pharmaceutical company programs to provide free or nearly free

prescription

drugs to patients in need. Moreover, more than 90% of those

contacting the

PPA have never before enrolled in a patient assistance program,

despite the

fact that they may have qualified for assistance for quite some time.

" I know from my own practice that most patients either don't know

about

prescription assistance programs or don't realize they qualify, " said

Dr.

E. , President of the American Academy of Family Physicians

(AAFP).

" That's why this effort is so critical and why we need to raise

awareness. "

The PPA reaches thousands of seniors every day who qualify for

the new

Medicare drug benefit and said it would now enhance its focus on this

audience

because seniors stand to benefit greatly from the new Medicare

prescription

drug program.

Patients can access the PPA through the toll-free number (1-888-

4PPA-NOW)

or by visiting the user-friendly Web site (http://www.pparx.org).

More than

1,200 national, state and local organizations, including the American

Academy

of Family Physicians, American Academy of Physician Assistants,

American

College of Emergency Physicians, the American Cancer Society, National

Alliance for Hispanic Health, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill,

National

Association of Chain Drug Stores, NAACP, National Medical Association,

National Urban League and United Way of America are working with

America's

pharmaceutical companies to reach patients who need help paying for

their

prescription medicines.

SOURCE Partnership for Prescription Assistance

Web Site: http://www.pparx.org