Prescription drugs can quickly become a financial burden for you and your family. To help pay for this expense, many insurers offer a prescription drug plan. While automatically included in some health insurance plans, it can also be bought separately. Under most of these plans, you either pay a set amount for each filled prescription (for example, $10) or a set percentage of a drug's retail cost. These plans often have some coverage limits.
Medicare prescription drug plans now offer prescription drug assistance. Before signing up for one of these plans, it’s important to learn about the benefits provided by the different plans. For information on these Medicare drug benefits, call 800-MEDICARE (800-633-4227) or visit www.medicare.gov.
For those with limited income who are struggling to pay for prescription drugs, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) offers low-cost and free prescription programs.
Support for prescription medications is also provided by some non-profit agencies like CancerCare. CancerCare’s Linking A.R.M.S.(TM) program helps qualified persons with breast cancer throughout the United States who are low-income, under-insured or uninsured. Financial assistance grants cover the costs of oral chemotherapy and hormone therapy medications, pain and anti-nausea medications, lymphedema support and supplies and durable medical equipment through a partnership between Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and CancerCare. Call Komen’s breast cancer helpline at 1-877 GO KOMEN (1-877-465-6636) for more information.
Prescription drug and medical equipment assistance with Linking A.R.M.S.™
Linking A.R.M.S.™ is a partnership between Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and CancerCare. For those who are eligible, Linking A.R.M.S.TM provides financial assistance grants of up to $350. These grants can be used for oral chemotherapy and hormonal therapy medications, pain and anti-nausea medication, medical equipment and lymphedema support and supplies.
PAF Co-Pay Relief Program
Susan G. Komen for the Cure® has partnered with the Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) to provide support for eligible persons. The Co-Pay Relief Program (CPR) currently provides direct financial support to insured patients, including Medicare Part D beneficiaries, who must financially and medically qualify to access pharmaceutical co-payment assistance. The program offers personal service to all patients through the use of call counselors; personally guiding patients through the enrollment process. www.copays.org
Updated 04/20/09
