• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Touring Bus Stops in La Crosse to Explain Prescription Drug Program

Posted on: Tuesday, 18 April 2006, 21:00 CDT

By Terry Rindfleisch, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.

Apr. 18--To get help paying for prescription drugs, Sandra Woggon was willing to make a 120-mile round trip Monday from Hustler, Wis., to La Crosse.

She had heard about the "Help Is Here Express" bus, which stopped at the St. Clare Health Mission in La Crosse.

It's part of a nationwide tour sponsored by the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, a national program created by pharmaceutical companies to help people get prescription medications for free or reduced costs.

Woggon is too young for Medicare and not poor or sick enough for Medicaid. She said she can't work because of her arthritis and other medical problems and will lose her medical insurance this summer.

"I don't have any money, and I've depleted most of my savings," Woggon said. "My medicines cost me a couple hundred of dollars a month."

Woggon learned she is eligible to receive five of her seven medicines for a co-payment of $5 or $10 a month. She said she plans to follow through with the applications for the reduced-cost medicines.

"I have no choice, I have to follow through, and this is going to help a lot," she said.

Since it was launched last April, the program has matched more than 2 million patients nationally, and about 26,000 in Wisconsin, said Mark Grayson, deputy vice president of communications for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.

Grayson said it can be confusing and complicated for low-income and uninsured patients to get hooked up to the right drug program. He said the Partnership for Prescription Assistance provides a clearinghouse for 475 public and private assistance programs, more than 180 of which are offered by pharmaceutical companies.

Some of the programs have existed for decades, but people have had trouble accessing them, Grayson said. "Now all they have to do is call a toll-free number or go to our Web site," he said. "This is a free and confidential service."

Patients who call the toll-free number will talk with a trained specialist who will provide them with information on programs and the application process.

The "Help Is Here Express" bus has computer terminals and phones so people can learn about the programs.

"We needed something like a bus and traveling across the country to get people's attention," Grayson said. "The poor and uninsured are hard populations to reach, and this service can help many people."

-----

To see more of the La Crosse Tribune or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.lacrossetribune.com/.

Copyright (c) 2006, La Crosse Tribune, Wis.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Source: La Crosse Tribune (La Crosse, Wisc.)

More News in this Category