According to the American Diabetes Association, the annual cost of health care for people with diabetes is an estimated $13,700 per person — more than twice the cost for people who don’t have diabetes. A new, free tool from NeedyMeds, “a national no-profit organization aimed at providing information to consumers on programs that help with the cost of medications and health care,” may help lessen some of this financial burden.
The Patient Assistance Update Service (PAPUS) provides daily and weekly e-mail updates of all the pharmaceutical patient assistance programs (PAPs), which are run by the drug manufacturers to help people in need receive their medicines at no or reduced cost.
“These programs and offers are constantly changing. Most days our staff of researchers make anywhere from 10 to 50 changes in the PAP information. With PAPUS, anyone who works with these programs will learn about these changes quickly,” notes Richard J. Sagall, MD, president of NeedyMeds.
To sign up for PAPUS, visit NeedyMeds online. The website also includes information about the organization’s drug discount card, a listing of over 10,000 free or low-cost clinics, more than 1,000 discount coupons, and more.
This blog entry was written by Web Editor Diane Fennell.