I don't know if this article would benefit family or friends of anyone on the
list. At the bottom of the article are contact numbers, addresses. Much
pharma is prohibitively expensive, if a person is without comprehensive
health insurance.......bobford
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"............Drug-assistance programs, long sponsored by pharmaceutical
manufacturers, provide consumers with billions of dollars a year in free or
low-cost drugs. To qualify, patients must meet strict financial requirements.
But as the economy weakens, a growing number of people are getting approved
for programs to help them pay for high-price drugs. For example, a year's
supply of Advair, a popular asthma drug, can cost around $2,500 a year, while
Plavix, a blood thinner, can run more than $1,800 a year."
"......Ms. Brill is enrolled in an Abbott Laboratories patient-assistance
program to help pay for her Humira arthritis medication, which she says
enables her to have an active life that includes bike riding and walking
half-marathons. On her own, the drug would likely cost more than $19,000 a
year.
"It really pays to ask," Ms. Brill says. "Now I can worry about my mortgage
and other things, but not about this."......."