Patients Save $1 Million on Prescription Medications Thanks to PatientAssistance.com

Patient Assistance (www.PatientAssistance.com), which connects those who can't afford their prescription medications with available patient assistance programs, has reached a milestone of saving Americans $1 million on prescription drug costs since its launch.

Baton Rouge, LA – April 16, 2009 – Many Americans can't afford necessary, and even basic, prescription medications. According to a 2007 survey from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 43 million Americans under the age of 65 were covered by no form of health insurance, including 8.9% of all children under the age of 18. Current economic problems have led to even more people losing their jobs, joining the ranks of uninsured or underinsured Americans. PatientAssistance.com was launched with a mission to help patients afford the prescription drugs they need. By connecting individuals with available patient assistance programs offering discounted or free prescription medication, PatientAssistance.com is proud to announce they have reached a milestone of saving patients $1 million on their prescription drugs.

“People shouldn't have to make choices between food and medication,” says Rex Bowden, President of PatienceAssistance.com, Inc. “They shouldn't have to worry about whether or not they can afford their heart medication or basic antibiotics for their children. But these situations are unnecessarily common, because people don't always know where to go for help, or they don't know that they're eligible for assistance and discounts when they're uninsured or underinsured. Patient Assistance does its part to correct that."

Patient Assistance was recently featured in major news outlets around the world after being included in an Associated Press (AP) feature highlighting sites that offer patients options for finding free or discounted prescription drugs.

"People are spreading the word about Patient Assistance, and that's allowing us to help more people than ever," says Bowden. "Helping people save $1 million on prescription drugs is no small feat, but we don't plan to stop there. We know that many Americans are still struggling, and we're going to keep spreading the word to help those individuals find out if patient assistance programs are available to make their medications more affordable."

PatientAssistance.com features a database of over 1000 patient assistance programs--programs offered by the drug companies themselves to help the underinsured afford the medications they need. The service is completely free, and allows patients to browse for programs by drug company or medication name. PatientAssistance.com even puts enrollment forms in the hands of patients, and helps them manage their program enrollment applications.

The service goes beyond that database to offer further help to patients ineligible for patient assistance programs, but who still need help paying for their prescription drugs. The organization offers a free prescription drug card available on the Web site at http://www.patientassistance.com/getcard.html, which can be used to save an average of 20% on prescription medications at thousands of pharmacies nationwide.