A prescription assistance program that has helped five million individuals who are uninsured or lack adequate healthcare coverage find medicines for free or nearly free is coming to Boutte.
The “Help is Here Express” bus tour is a traveling enrollment center that the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) launched to increase awareness and boost enrollment in patient assistance programs. The bus is equipped with computer terminals and mobile telephones so that patients can find out on the bus if they are eligible to receive help paying for their medicines.
The PPA is represented by Emmy-winning syndicated talk show host Montel Williams, who was named the organization’s national spokesman in 2006.
“Pharmaceutical companies have had these programs for many years and most of the time the programs went through doctors,” Mark Grayson, deputy vice president of communication and public affairs for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said. “With the advent of technology, we found that it was easier to get the information out in an easy, clearinghouse formula.
“All the research has told us that this is a hard population to reach.”
The bus is staffed by trained specialists that are able to give uninsured patients information on more than 475 patient assistance programs and 200 programs offered by pharmaceutical companies. Patients can also learn about new medicines in development to fight chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and asthma.
More than 40 of the assistance programs focus on the medication and healthcare needs of children. One of those programs, the Louisiana Children’s Health Insurance Program, allows children younger than 19 to see a doctor or dentist for free, even if they don’t have health insurance. The program also covers care at a hospital, prescription drugs and shots.
Over 2,500 different brand-name and generic prescription medicines are also available through participating patient and assistance programs. In addition, the PPA provides information on nearly 10,000 free healthcare clinics.
“The bus tour helps spread the word because we are actually in many local communities,” Grayson said. “In fact, we have been able to match more than 70 percent of the people who have applied for a program. While we believe it is successful, we are still out there because we know a lot more people need help.”
The bus will arrive at the Herald-Guide’s newspaper office at 14236 Hwy. 90 at 1 p.m. on Feb. 22. The event will last until 2 p.m.
The PPA has already helped more than 110,000 Louisiana residents, and since the bus tour’s launch in April 2005, it has visited all 50 states and more than 1,500 cities to raise awareness about patient assistance programs.
“We have been to Louisiana eight times and we have never stopped in Boutte,” Grayson said. “Because of Hurricane Katrina, we know that there have been a lot of people who need help around the state. We felt that it was important to go to places like Boutte to make sure that everyone who needs help can get it.”
There are around 717,309 uninsured residents in Louisiana, which is close to 17 percent of the population.
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