Are you having a hard time paying for a prescription medication? Help may be nearer than you think. Before throwing that prescription in the garbage, taking an inadequate dose, or using money for other essentials to pay for a prescription medication, you may want to check out the **Partnership for Prescription Assistance** website. "The **Partnership for Prescription Assistance** offers a single point of access to more than 475 public and private patient assistance programs, including more than 180 programs offered by pharmaceutical companies." This website is the real deal--it offers the service of helping to direct people to qualifying programs without an associated fee and also offers a telephone number (1-888-4PPA-NOW). Some websites offer this type of program but charge a fee for that service. This service is FREE. The **Partnership for Prescription Assistance** website is easy to use and all links that I tried worked without any problems. If you wish to see if you qualify for any prescription assistance, be prepared to enter the following information: 1. Patient's age2. Patient's state of residence3. Estimated gross annual income of patient's household4. Name of the prescription medicine(s) the patient needs (they do have an option to click on a letter of the alphabet and you may scroll down to find the medication in their database and you may enter all medications rather than searching each individually)5. Type of government, health insurance, and/or prescription drug coverage The website will then provide a list of programs for which you might be eligible and links for added information. If downloading an application, you will typically need Adobe Reader. Answers that you provide on the website are automatically merged into the application forms to help ease the process, but most forms require a patient and physician signature. Other items of interest that I found on this website include: - free or low-cost clinics within a radius of your choice - alphabetical list of all participating programs - links for co-pay programs and prescription drug cards **My Viewpoint:** I have a family with mutliple chronic health issues, and prescription medications can take a huge hunk out of the budget, so I feel your pain if you are struggling to pay for prescription drugs. Perhaps the **Partnership for Prescription Assistance** website might help you discover helpful resources for you or someone that you know.

Katrena

Piedmont, NC