Prescription Drug Patient Assistance Programs (NAPSA)—Aspart of its longstanding commitment to helping consumers, the pharmaceutical industry sponsors “patient assis- tance” programs. The programs are designed to provide prescription drugsat little or no cost to low-income individuals who are uninsured, people whose insurance coverage doesn’t include a prescription drug benefit, including Medicare beneficiaries, people who are unemployed and people whose employers do not offer health insurance. Since their inception, these programs havehelped millions of people who would otherwise be unable to afford the medications they need and the numbers keep growing. In 2001, drug companies helped an estimated 3.6 million patients fill more than 10 million prescriptions, up from about two million prescriptions five years ago. The estimated wholesale value of these prescriptions was $1.5 billion, compared to just $374 million in 1997. To make it easier for physicians and patients who rely on these programs to get medica- For many families, patient assistance programs are the key to affording prescription drugs. tions, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) publishes the Directory of Prescription Drug Patient Assistance Programs, which lists programs, company sponsors, medicines available, basic eligibility requirements and people to contact for more information. Consumers can download a free copy of the directory from PhRMA’s Web site at www.phrma.org. The Web site also includes application forms for manyof the programs.
