Partnership for Prescription Assistance Prepared to Help New Jersey Workers Hurt by Recession

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, N.J., Sept. 23

The 'Help is Here Express' bus tour will be in Franklin Township this week, stopping at Franklin Township Community Resources Building (935 Hamilton Street) to help uninsured and financially-struggling New Jersey residents access information on programs that provide prescription medicines for free or nearly free. The bus will be at the Community Resources Center September 23rd from 12:00 p.m. - 5 p.m. and September 24th from 7 a.m. until noon. With the state's unemployment rate now hitting 8.8 percent, compared to 5.1 percent a year ago, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) is ready to help state residents who face layoffs and loss of health care benefits find programs that provide prescription medicines for free or nearly free.

The PPA, a nationwide effort sponsored by America's pharmaceutical research companies, provides a single point of access to more than 475 patient assistance programs that help those who are uninsured or struggling financially. Nearly 200 of the programs are provided by pharmaceutical companies. Locally, sanofi-aventis U.S. has worked with Franklin Township to bring the Help Is Here Express bus tour to New Jersey citizens who may need help.

"The PPA, so far, has helped well over 239,000 New Jersey residents find out if they may qualify for free or discounted medicines and as we move forward into 2009, the assistance is still available," said PhRMA President and CEO Billy Tauzin. "That's good news for the citizens of New Jersey, where there are more than 400,000 people out of work."

Patients who qualify for help from the PPA's participating patient assistance programs have access to more than 2,500 brand-name and generic prescription medicines. In addition, the PPA provides information on more than 10,000 free health care clinics in America and has connected more than 281,600 patients with clinics and health care providers in their communities.

Patients seeking help from PPA can call a toll-free number (1-888-4-PPA-NOW) to talk to a trained operator or access the PPA Web site (www.pparx.org). It only takes 10 to 15 minutes to find out if someone may qualify for free or discounted medications.

To help spread the word about the assistance available, the PPA's "Help Is Here Express" buses continue to visit communities all over the country with trained specialists on board to provide information on how to access patient assistance programs. All 50 states and more than 2,500 towns and cities have been visited so far, and nearly 6 million patients have been helped nationwide since the PPA began in April 2005.

"At a time when national unemployment is the highest in almost two decades, the PPA has become an important lifeline for a growing number of patients," PhRMA's Tauzin said. "Millions of Americans have been added to the jobless rolls over the last several months and there could be a sharp increase in the number of our citizens losing health care benefits."

"PPA is currently helping thousands of people every day," Tauzin added, including those who need treatments to fight such debilitating chronic diseases as cancer, heart disease, diabetes and asthma.

In New Jersey alone, there are millions of cases of chronic diseases, according to the Milken Institute and the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease. Nationwide, more than 133 million Americans suffer from at least one chronic disease, which is responsible for 7 out of every 10 deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Many of the most debilitating chronic diseases are closely linked to excess weight. That fact makes rising rates of childhood obesity particularly alarming. As the number of overweight and obese children has increased, so too have the incidences of disease, including some that used to be virtually unknown among children, such as Type 2 Diabetes. In New Jersey, 60.5% of the adult population is overweight, including 22.9% who are obese. Nearly 14% of New Jersey children ages 10-17 are obese.

"With the number of people affected by chronic disease increasing every year, and economists predicting that unemployment will continue to grow well into 2009, the PPA and its message of hope are now more relevant than ever," Tauzin said. "No one - and I mean no one - is helped by a medicine that sits on the shelf and is out of reach financially. In New Jersey, we will continue to help folks all over the state for as long as our assistance is needed."

On a national level, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance is represented by Emmy-winning syndicated television talk show host Montel Williams, named PPA's national spokesman in January 2006. In addition, nationally recognized Telemundo talk show host and author Mayte Prida leads the PPA's Hispanic outreach effort.

"Since January 2006, I've been traveling the country talking about the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, urging people to pick up the phone, log on to the Web site or visit the big, orange PPA bus to see if they may qualify for assistance," said Williams. "As a patient who must cope every day with the effects of multiple sclerosis, I understand only too well the importance of having access to the medicine you need."

More than 1,300 national, state and local partners are working with America's pharmaceutical research companies to spread the word about the program. Trained specialists work with doctors, pharmacists, health care providers and community groups, educating them on the process and use of the PPA's easy-to-access Web site and toll-free number.

To find out if there are patient assistance programs that may meet their needs, patients should call toll-free 1-888-4PPA-NOW (1-888-477-2669) to speak with a trained specialist or visit www.pparx.org.