In the United States, everyone hates how insurance companies "stick" it to consumers. There is pretty much universal agreement that the cost of prescription drugs are too high. There is also near consensus that the marketplace plans under the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") have caused a lot of headaches for patients with chronic conditions — including HIV/AIDS — especially with respect to the high tier drug plans. It is no wonder that so many cracks exist within the current healthcare framework. Fortunately, there also exist patient assistance programs ("PAPs") designed to plug the treatment gaps for these patients. PAPs serve as key linkages to care...and treatment!
According to PatientAssistance.com, "Commonly referred to as PAPs, Patient Assistance Programs are services offered by pharmaceutical companies for those who cannot afford their medication. Patient assistance programs are available to low-income individuals or families who are under-insured or uninsured and are provided to those who meet the eligibility guidelines. Assistance may range from reduced cost of drugs to free medicine. Each drug that a company offers will have its own unique program and may even have a different eligibility requirement than the other drugs they offer. As there is no unified standard of designation for these programs, you may also see them referred to as medication assistance programs, indigent drug programs, and charitable drug programs."[1]
| Photo Source: MedicineCoupons.net |
Celebrating its 12-year anniversary, PPA recently reported that its website is visited by over 75,000 consumers per month and makes available information on more than 475 patient assistance programs. It also offers a database of nearly 10,000 free or low-cost health care clinics across the country. Over 10 million consumers have been helped since the program's inception.[2]
Aside from the resources made available to consumers directly from the drug manufacturers, there also exists other patient-centric organizations designed to assist patients with prescriptions, discount drug cards, and other patient resources. Just to name a few, they include the Patient Access Network Foundation ("PAN"), Patient Advocate Foundation ("PAF"), and NeedyMeds. Each of these organizations serve as vital linkages to care for social workers, case managers, and allied health professionals assisting patients. These organizations also each partner with the ADAP Advocacy Association.
In an effort to raise awareness about patient assistance program and how they serve people living with HIV/AIDS and/or viral hepatitis, we will host an educational training webinar on May 31, 2017. The webinar, "Plugging the Treatment Gap: Navigating Patient Assistance Program," will showcase important information about these patient-centric PAPs. It will provide webinar attendees with a greater understanding about patient assistance programs, tools for how to navigate patient assistance programs to best assist patient needs, strategies for better seamless delivery of health-related care and treatment, and useful resources and tools to plug the treatment gap.
Registration is open to all stakeholders. Registration is complimentary for PASWHA members, and it is also complimentary for patients living with HIV/AIDS. Use this scholarship link if you are a patient living with HIV/AIDS applying for a webinar scholarship.
Additional information about the webinar is available online at https://www.123signup.com/event?id=nhjqn.
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[1] PatientAssistance.com (2014); The Catalyst; What are Patient Assistance Programs?; PatientAssistance.com, Inc. Retrieved from https://www.patientassistance.com/faq.html.
[2] Mooney, Hannah (2017, April 5); 12 years of the Partnership of Prescription Assistance; Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America®. Retrieved from http://catalyst.phrma.org/12-years-of-the-partnership-of-prescription-assistance.
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