The cost of prescription medications can be a significant factor in one's overall health-care budget. Those who are underinsured or on fixed incomes are often unaware of many programs offering free or inexpensive medications. But for those spending big on medical prescriptions, help is on the way this weekend.
On Saturday, April 19, the "Help is Here Express" bus will make stops at St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center in Ketchum and the Community Campus in Hailey.
Sponsored by the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, an organization funded by a group of pharmaceutical companies, the bus will offer information on how to get 2,500 brand-name and generic medications for free or nearly free. These are medications for the elderly, the mentally ill or those in need of long-term medications for chronic illnesses.
Tom Hansen, past president of the local chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, was contacted by PPA two months ago to assess the need for prescription assistance in the valley.
"The PPA is a gateway to more than 400 programs offering prescription medication payment assistance," Hansen said.
Hansen said those seeking assistance need to have a doctor's prescription to get medications, and the people on the bus do not give out medications themselves. He said the bus is a place where people will get assistance qualifying for the many programs out there offering help.
"The bus stopped in Boise last year, but never made it as far as the Wood River Valley," said Hansen, who helped organize a meeting two months ago with personnel from Advocates for Survivors of Domestic Violence, St. Luke's hospital, Blaine County Services and the National Alliance on Mental Illness. All were enthusiastic to have the bus stop in the Wood River Valley.
Nationally syndicated talk show host Montel Williams, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1999, is the national spokesman for the PPA. On its promotional material, Williams states, "This program is real. The help you can get is real."
The big orange bus will be at St. Luke's on Hospital Lane off Highway 75 in Ketchum from 7:30-10:30 a.m. and at the Community Campus, 1050 Fox Acres Rd. in Hailey from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Those unable to meet the bus on Saturday can go to www.parx.org or call (888) 477-2669 for information on prescription payment assistance programs.
Photo courtesy Partnership for Prescription Assistance
Partnership for Prescription Assistance bus will visit the Wood River Valley on Saturday.
