Physicians Didn’t Know about Drug Benefits for Low-Income Patients

There has been much discussion about low income individuals having to choose between their prescriptions and food, often taking lower doses of the prescription drugs, thus allowing their health conditions to get worse.

There is – and has been – a remedy for the situation, only few doctors or Medicare recipients knew about it.  The remedy is a State Government Subsidy backed by the federal government for low-income patients who are usually the poorest ones.

There were focus groups conducted that included doctors, pharmacists and Medicare beneficiaries in an effort to find out what low income beneficiaries needed the most.  It turns out that more pharmacists knew about this assistance than doctors or Medicare enrollees.

The assistance either pays some or all of Medicare Part D drug coverage, depending on the individual’s income.  This enables individuals to get the medications that they need even if they are unable to afford to pay the part D premiums. 

The program is also making an effort to make physicians aware of ways to help their patients – especially by asking every patient if they can afford their medications and coming up with effective and efficient solutions if the patients cannot.

There are places you can go to find information on whether you qualify and how to apply for the program.  AARP (AARP. Org) has a program that will help you determine what programs – including this particular low-income program – will be able to accept and assist you.

The American Medical Association also has information at www.accesstobenefits.org. 

In addition, AARP and other organizations are pushing to raise the asset limit so that those who are struggling to afford their prescriptions and qualify for this particular program and any others available, will not have to lose everything and spend every cent they have just to get medicine.