Drug Assistance Program Can Help-If You Can Navigate the Paper Trail

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Drug Assistance Program Can Help-If You Can Navigate the Paper Trail

Is there any help for low-income seniors to obtain prescription drugs? Sometimes, but often the process is a cumbersome one.

The Patient Assistance Program, offered by the pharmaceutical industries, is a boon to many low-income seniors because it provides medications at no charge. The program, however, may be the drug industry's best kept secret it is not widely publicized, nor easy to access.

There are 97 different drug companies in the Patient Assistance Program, but according a number of sources the program has no system. "It is cumbersome and horrible,” says one hospital pharmacist, "every company has different eligibility requirements. Some companies may just require a doctor's signature attesting to the fact that the patient cannot afford to pay for the needed prescription medication. Others require reams of documentation some even wanting the tax forms not only of the applicant, but also for the person he or she lives with."

Every company in the Patient Assistance Program has a different application and they have to be re-filed every 90 days. Doctor's must find nurses or other assistants to help them with the process that for some may be too time-consuming in today's cost-conscious health care world.

According to one source who works with the program, "Drug companies are not going to make it easy for anyone to obtain any medication for free."

Editor's note: There is help available for low-income seniors to access the drugs you need. Don’t be put off. For more information about whether you may be eligible for help with your prescription drugs through the Patient Assistance Program:

· Ask your doctor. Doctors can call 1-800-PMA-INFO: or write: Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, 1100 15th St., NW, Washington DC 20005, or

· Contact your local Area Board for the Aging. Call the Eldercare Locator toll-free at 800-677-1116 for the number in your community or go to http://www.eldercare.gov.

Source: “Assistance Program Is A Two-sided Coin,” Bea Mook, Silver Linings, Jefferson Area Board For Aging, February 2000.

This article first appeared in Volume 5, Issue 9 of "The Social Security and Medicare Advisor" newsletter (September/2000). To receive future editions of "The Advisor" in its special, free e-mail version, please click here.