Free Rx Drugs—If You Qualify
On average, prices for prescription drugs in the United States are the highest in the world, hitting the uninsured and seniors the hardest.
That's why one of the high-profile issues in campaign 2000 is the high cost of medical prescriptions.
So it may surprise you to learn that, for some Americans, there is prescription price relief. CBS News Correspondent Russ Mitchell reports there are strings attached, but some people are getting their prescriptions filled for free.
In Simi Valley, California, Julia Erwin cannot afford the chemotherapy she needs in her battle against breast cancer.
"It would have been so expensive—I think for one month, $4,000," she said.
That's exactly why she's getting her medication for free, thanks to the aggressiveness of her doctor and his staff.
"Free medications are readily available and they should be used, because that's what they are there for," says Denise Seth-Hunter, a doctor's office administrator.
And these free medications are readily available because of little-publicized assistance programs sponsored by the pharmaceutical industry. This year alone, drug companies will gave away almost a billion dollars' worth of prescription drugs to 2 million Americans, including patients like Donna Betsch and her family.
Betsch works two jobs—both without benefits—and makes about $30,000 a year. Her husband has been unemployed since January.
"You have to pay rent, you have to pay for food. I have two children, so right now to buy health insurance—it's astronomical, right now, for me it's impossible," she said.
Betsch and her daughter both need thyroid medicine. Every day her husband has to take blood pressure pills. And she applied for free ulcer medication.
Her doctor certified that it would be a hardship for her to pay for the medication, and then she was given a three-month supply.
To qualify, applicants must show they have no insurance coverage for outpatient prescription drugs; that their income is low enough that paying for medicine would pose a hardship; and that they do not qualify for Medicaid. In some cases, households with incomes as high as $50,000 can still receive free drugs.
And how does a person go about checking it out?
"What a patient should do is get in touch with their individual doctor to be able to determine whether they will be eligible for a specific program, for a specific medicine," says Alan Holmer, President of PhRMA, which provides a directory of drug company assistance programs.
But some doctors say the process of applying for free medicine through one's physician can be daunting.
"A lot of the paperwork is very complicated. Some of the forms that the pharmaceutical companies require are a pain in the neck to do," says Dr. Kevin Maloney, a family doctor.
But a non-profit organization, called The Medicine Program, can help simplify the application process
Dan Hogg of The Medicine Program says their role is simple: "Our purpose has been to spread the word. We just serve as a middleman, a patient's advocate"
For just $5, refundable if you don't qualify for the free drugs, the Medicine Program helps physicians and patients fill out the forms and get them to the right pharmaceutical company.
Seth-Hunter says you shouldn't be afraid to go for it.
"You should not be embarrassed or ashamed. You should seek what you can get for free, and it's out there for anybody who wants it."
A recent study indicates that elderly health care costs now run an average of $12,000 a year, making these prescription drug assistance programs even more important, if only people in need knew they existed.