Both personal and community health are compromised when financially needy individuals are unable to purchase their increasingly expensive, but often literally life-sustaining prescription medications.
Among the variety of existing prescription assistance options are the new Medicare benefits, state discounts, and the valuable drug company programs that provide free medications to qualifying applicants.
Because each program and sponsor has its own qualifications and application process, taking advantage of available help is time-consuming and burdensome. Without staff dedicated solely to this work, seldom can a medical practice or social service organization help more than a few individuals.
MedHelp Maine is a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to facilitating development of a statewide network of prescription assistance programs managed by hospitals or other non-profit organizations. These programs are staffed by personnel devoted solely to identifying the most appropriate source of help for a patient, to coordinating the enrollment process, and, through database management, to ensuring ongoing medication availability.