The report shows that a significant portion of those with prescriptions have difficulty affording them. Four in 10 adults (41 percent) say it is at least somewhat of a problem for their family to pay for prescription drugs they need, including 16 percent who say it is a serious problem. That leads to personal strategies for cutting back: Three in 10 (29 percent) say that they have not filled a prescription because of the cost in the last two years, and 23 percent say they have cut pills in half or skipped doses in order to make medication last longer.
Four in 10 report at least one of these three problems (a serious problem paying for drugs, not filling a prescription because of cost, and/or skipping doses in the past two years). These percentages swell even more among those who take larger numbers of prescription drugs, those who don’t have health insurance that covers prescriptions and those with lower incomes, according to the report.
Pharmaceutical manufacturers are well aware of the problems of affordability of their products and know that public perception is against them. Seven in 10 Americans say pharmaceutical companies are too concerned about making profits and not concerned enough about helping people.
Most drug manufacturers offer help to people who can’t afford their prescriptions. The companies provide medications for free or at a reduced cost to people who qualify for their patient assistance programs. There are hundreds of these programs, and many drug makers operate multiple programs, depending on the medicines involved.
Eligibility rules for patient assistance programs vary considerably, but often you must be without insurance coverage for prescription drugs (including Medicaid and Medicare), meet low-income guidelines and be unable to afford your medicine on your own.
According to the USA Today report, there is public awareness of these patient assistance programs. Nearly six in 10 adults (58 percent) have heard of these programs, but 65 percent of those who have heard of them think the programs don’t go far enough to help people. Sixteen percent say that they or someone in their family has applied for discount or free medications from a pharmaceutical company in the past.