Merck Significantly Expands its Patient Assistance Program Offerings to Provide Access to More Medicines for People in Need
September 22, 2010 7:30 am ET
Survey shows more than one third of uninsured, unemployed Americans have skipped or incorrectly taken their prescribed medications to save money, yet many may qualify for free medicine
Today, Merck announced that it has significantly expanded the number of
Merck medicines available through its Merck Helps™ patient assistance
programs, which include the Merck Patient Assistance Program, the Merck
Vaccine Patient Assistance Program, the ACT Program for Oncology and
Hepatitis C medicines, and the SUPPORT® Program for HIV/AIDS
medicines. The Merck Helps programs provide Merck medicines and vaccines
free of charge to eligible individuals, primarily the uninsured, who
earn up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level who, without
assistance, cannot afford needed Merck medicines.
To help increase awareness of all patient assistance programs, the Merck
Company Foundation has provided a grant to NeedyMeds, a nonprofit
organization with a mission to help people who cannot afford medicine or
healthcare costs by making information about these programs available at
no cost. NeedyMeds will be using the grant to translate its website into
Spanish as well as working closely with various healthcare clinics to
increase knowledge of and access to patient assistance programs.
“Merck has historically recognized the critical need for people to have
access to the prescription medicines and vaccines they require, even if
they lose their insurance,” said Michael Rosenblatt, M.D., executive
vice president and chief medical officer at Merck. “Our patient
assistance programs now provide access to even more medicines for
chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes and high blood pressure,
allowing us to reach more people in need.”
A recent telephone survey of more than 2,000 Americans, conducted by
Harris Interactive on behalf of Merck1, found that more than one third
(35%) of those who are uninsured and unemployed did not buy or refill
medicines they were prescribed, cut their dosage in half, or took
expired medicine as a way to save money. Furthermore, while 32 percent
of U.S. adults are potentially eligible for patient assistance programs,
79 percent of those who are uninsured and unemployed are somewhat or not
at all aware that such programs exist.
“Unfortunately, many patients don’t know that there are patient
assistance programs available if they can’t afford their prescriptions,
and the need is great,” said Richard Sagall, MD, co-founder of
NeedyMeds. “That’s why we are pleased to partner with Merck to help
further raise awareness of these programs.”
“With an uncertain economy and near double-digit unemployment, more
patients are struggling to pay for their medicines than ever before,”
said Emmanuel Durham, director of Community Healthcare Network – Helen
B. Atkinson Health Center, New York, NY. “I have seen firsthand how the
Merck Helps programs can keep needed medicines in reach.”
About Merck Helps
For more than 50 years, Merck has helped millions of patients gain
access to medicines for chronic conditions like asthma, diabetes and
high blood pressure through the Merck Patient Assistance Program. As a
global healthcare leader working to help the world be well, Merck
provides its medicines and adult vaccines for free to people who do not
have prescription drug or health insurance coverage and qualify for a
Merck Helps program. Merck Helps programs include:
-
The Merck Patient Assistance Program, which helps eligible patients
who earn up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level gain access to
Merck medicines for chronic conditions like asthma and diabetes. -
The Merck Vaccine Patient Assistance Program, which provides free
vaccines to adults over age 19 who do not have health insurance
coverage for vaccines and who earn up to 400 percent of the federal
poverty level. -
The ACT Program for Oncology and Hepatitis C medicines, which provides
free reimbursement support services and refers appropriate patients to
a patient assistance program for eligible individuals who earn up to
500 percent of the federal poverty level. -
The SUPPORT Program for HIV/AIDS, which provides free reimbursement
support services and refers appropriate patients to a patient
assistance program for eligible individuals who earn up to 500 percent
of the federal poverty level.
All Merck Helps programs are confidential and patients may qualify for
the Merck Patient Assistance Program and the Merck Vaccine Patient
Assistance Program if they have a household income of $43,320 or less
for individuals, $58,280 or less for couples, or $88,200 or less for a
family of four, even if the financial situation is temporary due to
unemployment or other reasons. Patients may qualify for The ACT Program
and the SUPPORT Program if they have a household income of $54,150 or
less for individuals, $72,800 or less for couples, or $110,250 or less
for a family of four. With the Merck Helps programs, there are no
application fees, no co-payments and a simple enrollment process. Many
medicines can be delivered to a patient’s home or doctor’s office at no
charge. Patients in need of information should visit www.MerckHelps.com
or call (800) PAP-5400.
About NeedyMeds
NeedyMeds is a non-profit organization founded in 1997 as a resource for
people who need help with the cost of medicine. The mission of NeedyMeds
has been, since its inception, to make comprehensive and reliable
information about assistance programs available to low-income patients
and their advocates at no cost. NeedyMeds’ website is visited by over
14,000 people each workday.
About Merck
Today’s Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be
well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada.
Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and
consumer care and animal health products, we work with customers and
operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health
solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to
healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For
more information, visit www.merck.com.
1 This telephone survey was conducted by Harris Interactive
on behalf of Merck from August 20 to 23, 2010 among 2,012 U.S. adults of
whom 549 do not have any prescription drug benefits and 131 do not have
any prescription drug benefits and are not employed.
Media Contact:
Merck
Ron Rogers, 908-423-6449
