Patients are not going to the doctor because of cost of co-pay–and what to do about it.
According to MSNBC, one in four Americans are not going to the doctor due to cost. To see what resources are out there, I poked around the Internet this morning and came across a great site that provides relief for patients for thier drug co-pays. Basically, the Patient Advocate Foundation will provide direct financial support to qualified patients to meet drug co-pays for certain conditions. The conditions include diabetes, inflammatory bowel diseases, psoriatic arthritis, many cancers, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis and hepatitis C. Providers may enroll patients electronically and there is a number for patients to call as well. As a test I went through the application process as a provider, and was told that all resources had been fully advocated for the month for the disease I chose. However, given it is March 27, late in the month, this is understandable.
The site is part of the Patient Advocate Foundation, which offers patients free help navigating through insurance and coding red tape, FMLA, “debt crises” and access to medical and surgical procedures.
Other websites to check out: needymeds–which offers coupons and links to pharmaceutical companies that provide free drugs. I checked to see if singulair was available, and found a way to get a 30 day supply. (No, I didn’t order it.) The Chronic Disease Fund also offers help with medication co-pays for “underinsured” and has an online application process. The HealthWell Foundation will provide assistance to patients at 400% above the poverty level with medication and provider co-pays.
So why did I post this? Because all over America patients are not going to see their doctors and are not taking their medications because they can’t afford the co-pays. The sites listed here generally apply to those with no insurance or those that are “underinsured”, but both physician and patients will benefit from help with these co-pays. Let me know if you know of other sites and I will gladly post them.
PS: I’m having difficulty getting links to highlight. I will work on this, and appologize for any inconvenience.
Tags: copays, free medicine, underinsured
Hello, my name is April Martin. I am currently writing an essay on reasons why patients do not go to the doctor. I was wondering if you know any other reasons besides cost as a factor? Any information you give me would be very helpful. If not i appreciate the time you took to read this.