Lower-cost prescription drugs. (on call).As prescription drug prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, prices continue to climb, the question hits all of us: how will we pay for our medication? The answer: in every way possible. Resources for prescription drug assistance are less scarce than they seem, and most people have access to at least some of them. To obtain the greatest savings, combine as many methods as possible, and be creative! Insurance, public and private Medicare. Most of us know that Medicare, the federal insurance program for seniors and people with disabilities, does not provide drug coverage for prescription drugs taken at home. At least, not yet. However, being enrolled in the program does make you eligible for other forms of assistance. (See "Cards, cards, cards" p. 65.) To find out if you are eligible for Medicare, call the Medicare number listed in the U.S. government section of the phone book, or go to: www.medicare .gov/Basics/Overview.asp. Medigap. Medigap, also known as Medicare supplemental insurance, is a federal program administered state by state, that authorizes private insurers to sell coverage plans that add to Medicare's coverage. Since you must pay high premiums for the Medigap plans with prescription drug coverage, the benefits may not outweigh out·weigh tr.v. out·weighed, out·weigh·ing, out·weighs 1. To weigh more than. 2. To be more significant than; exceed in value or importance: The benefits outweigh the risks. the cost. A good Web resource is: www.medicare.gov/ MGCompare/Home.asp. State programs/Medicaid. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the AARP AARP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan national organization dedicated to "enriching the experience of aging"; membership is open to people age 50 or older. Founded in 1958 by Ethel Percy Andrus as American Association of Retired Persons, AARP now has over 30 million Public Policy Institute, 12 states offer pharmacy pharmacy, art of compounding and dispensing drugs and medication. The term is also applied to an establishment used for such purposes. Until modern times medication was prepared and dispensed by the physician himself. In the 18th cent. assistance programs for people with disabilities living on low incomes who are under 65 years of age. State Health Insurance Programs (SHIPs) can help you find government and private prescription A private prescription is a United Kingdom Medical term that refers to a prescription funded by the patient, rather than the National Health Service. Unlike NHS prescriptions, a private prescription can be written on any piece of paper and a doctor may also write their own drug coverage resources in your state, as well as Medicaid prescription benefits that may be available. For a listing of SHIP Web sites for each state, go to: www.medicare.gov/Contacts/Related/ Ships.asp or www.qdrug.com/sf/. Call the Social Services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales number listed in the County section of the phone book. Formularies. Some insurance plans publish lists of preferred medications, called "formularies". These name drugs for which the company has negotiated reduced prices. Make sure that your doctor has a copy of the formulary formulary /for·mu·lary/ (for´mu-lar?e) a collection of recipes, formulas, and prescriptions. National Formulary see under N. for·mu·lar·y n. from your plan, and ask that he or she prescribe pre·scribe v. To give directions, either orally or in writing, for the preparation and administration of a remedy to be used in the treatment of a disease. from the list whenever possible. Cards, cards, cards Manufacturers' rebate rebate, partial refund of the total price paid for goods or services. In the United States, rebates were historically given by railroads to favored shippers as a return on transportation charges. cards. Major prescription medication manufacturers offer free discount cards for Medicare recipients. You may find yourself with a wallet See digital wallet. bulging bulge n. 1. A protruding part; an outward curve or swelling. 2. Nautical A bilge. 3. A sudden, usually temporary increase in number or quantity: with plastic, but the following cards can save you significant sums. Although some of the following Web sites' home pages say that the cards are for seniors, anybody enrolled in Medicare is eligible for the programs. Pfizer offers the Share Card for Medicare recipients who have no prescription coverage and whose gross income does not exceed $18,000 for individuals or $24,000 for couples. The card entitles the holder to a flat rate of $15 for each 30-day supply of any Pfizer prescription drug (except Celebrex), including Zoloft and Neurontin. Pfizer can be contacted at 800-717-6005 or www.pfizerforliving.com. Eli Lilly's LillyAnswersCard has identical income requirements to Pfizer's. The card entitles holders to a flat $12 for a month's supply of a Lilly prescription medication, excluding medicines administered by a doctor or in a hospital or controlled substances controlled substance n. a drug which has been declared by federal or state law to be illegal for sale or use, but may be dispensed under a physician's prescription. . Contact Eli Lilly Eli Lilly can refer to:
GlaxoSmithKline offers the Orange Card. The income allowances are $26,000 for singles and $35,000 for couples. Holders save 30% to 40% on all GlaxoSmithKline medications that are not administered by a doctor or in a hospital. GlaxoSmithKline can be reached at 888-672-6436 or www.gsk.com. Novartis offers the Care Card, which entitles holders to savings of 30-40% off selected outpatient products. The income allowance is approximately $26,000 for individuals and $35,000 for couples. Novartis can be contacted at 888-NOW-NOVA or www.novartis.com. The Together RX card is offered by a consortium of drug manufacturers--including GlaxoSmith Kline, Novartis, and five others. As with the other cards, you must be enrolled in Medicare to participate and have no other prescription coverage. The Together Rx card has income allowances of up to $28,000 for singles and $38,000 for couples and offers savings of 20% to 40%. Call 800-865-7211 or go to www.together-rx.com. Pharmacy rebate cards. Many chain pharmacies also offer discount cards that can be used when purchasing anything in their stores; however, many exclude pharmacy purchases. Others offer only slight discounts (about 10%). Still, if your pharmacy offers a discount card that applies to prescriptions, it is usually worth the trouble of signing up, especially if those cards can be used in conjunction with other discounts. Manufacturers' rebates. Income-based assistance is available from the manufacturers of almost all prescription medications, if the person and/or his or her doctor apply for them. Each manufacturer has its own program and processes and you must file a separate application for each medication. This slow, one-by-one approach may be the single best way to reduce spending on prescription medications. Drug manufacturers may even find you eligible for free medication. The organizations below can help you find the programs and applications. * www.themedicine program.com assists people who do not have insurance coverage for drugs or who do not qualify for government assistance. It applies to manufacturers for discounts on your behalf. The assistance costs $5 for each drug you list. The Medicine Program, P.O. Box 520, Doniphan, MO 63935-0520; tel: 573-996-7300. * www.NeedyMeds.com, a not-for-profit Web site, is a tremendously helpful resource. Although it does not offer any assistance in applying to programs, it does offer a large and easily searchable database Refers to databases on the Web that are searchable by typing in a query. The term is quite redundant because all databases are searchable. In fact, that is one of their major features. of manufacturers' applications for cost reductions and exemptions. * PhRMA Foundation provides a list of patient assistance programs. Go to www.phrma.org/patients or call 202-572-7756. * www.disabilityresources.org/RX .html is a broad listing of Web sites that can help you find additional resources for low-cost prescription drugs. Ask your insurance or pharmaceutical service company. Some insurance and pharmaceutical service companies offer programs that help people apply for reduced-price prescriptions. For example, Caremark--a pharmaceutical service company--keeps track of funding for lower-cost drugs, and applies to these programs for people enrolled in its plans. If your insurer or pharmaceutical service company tells you they have such a program, ask to be put on it. Smart shopping Generic alternatives. Generic versions of drugs are chemically exactly the same as their brand-name counterparts. If the patent on a brand-name drug Noun 1. brand-name drug - a drug that has a trade name and is protected by a patent (can be produced and sold only by the company holding the patent) proprietary drug drug - a substance that is used as a medicine or narcotic has expired, smaller pharmaceutical manufacturers often make generic equivalents at deep discounts. Ask your doctor to prescribe the generic equivalents of brand-name drugs whenever possible. Shopping online The biggest savings are available from Web pharmacies outside the U.S. For example, a prescription for Prozac can be bought at about 1/3 the price available from U.S.-based online retailers if you purchase it from a Canadian retailer. Foreign Web sites, however, usually don't accept U.S. insurance. But the savings available from U.S. Web sites can be valuable as well, so shop around. On the Internet, the Internet, the, international computer network linking together thousands of individual networks at military and government agencies, educational institutions, nonprofit organizations, industrial and financial corporations of all sizes, and commercial enterprises buyer must always beware be·ware v. be·wared, be·war·ing, be·wares v.tr. To be on guard against; be cautious of: "Beware the ides of March" Shakespeare. v. . For U.S. pharmacies, the Verified Internet Pharmacy internet pharmacy Online A website that offers prescription drugs from the comfort of home Cons The IP or prescribing physician may not be qualified or licensed to prescribe drugs in all states. See Operation Cure-All, VIPPS. Practice Sites (VIPPS VIPPS Verified Internet Pharmacy Practice Sites ) seal of approval is a good way to verify that a pharmacy is legitimate: go to www .nabp.net/vipps/consumer/ faq.asp and search for your pharmacy. If you are buying from any Web site, make sure that the pharmacy confirms that you have a valid prescription for the drug. Offers to sell prescription drags without a prescription are illegal, and may be dangerous as well. You may get a contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. or counterfeited product, the wrong product, an incorrect dose, or no product at all. It is also illegal to mail controlled substances, such as Valium, into the U.S. Any foreign Web site that offers to do this is not legitimate. Border crossing Crossing the border into Mexico or Canada to purchase prescription drugs at the reduced costs mandated by those two governments is legal, but only for a three-month supply of your medications, and only if you have a valid U.S. prescription. Drug-buying clubs Several companies, ranging from Internet start-ups to Medco Health Solutions Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS) is a leading pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) company based in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. The current chairman is David Snow. The company formed in August 2003 as a spinoff from Merck & Co.. , have formed discount clubs that, for an annual fee, offer savings for people without adequate insurance for prescription drugs. Most of them offer discounts on other medical services as well. You must, however, pay for these drugs--and services--at the time you receive them. It is very important that people with MS know their specific medical needs, and thoroughly research the benefits of any club. Get answers to these questions first: * Does the club exclude pre-existing conditions? * What specific drugs that you are taking would be discounted? * Would these discounts more than offset the annual fee? * What pharmacies are included? * If you are considering a club for other medical needs, what medical providers are included in the plan? It almost goes without saying--when considering any of the options mentioned in this article, get all of the facts, and read all of the fine print. Seana O'Callaghan wrote on accessible housing in our Winter 2002 issue. |
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