BC-CNS-Prescription Drugs,310

Bus connects struggling Arizonans with prescription assistance

With BC-CNS-Prescription Drugs-Box

Photos Available (thumbnails, captions below)

By ALYSON ZEPEDA
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Thursday, Feb. 5) _ Uninsured and financially struggling Arizonans might not be aware of programs that could provided discounted or even free prescription drugs, something that state lawmakers and pharmaceutical research companies are trying to change.

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance, a national campaign that connects people to programs that help pay for prescription drugs, took its “Help is Here Express” bus across Arizona for a fourth straight year. House Speaker Kirk Adams, R-Mesa, Senate President Bob Burns, R-Peoria, and several other lawmakers greeted it Thursday outside the State Capitol.

“This program is especially important to our state,” Adams said at a news conference outside the bus.

“This program is not only working; it is during these difficult times that it is especially needed,” said Sen. Carolyn Allen, R-Scottsdale.

So far, 81,000 people in Arizona and 5.5 million people nationwide have used the campaign’s online database to check their eligibility for prescription-assistance programs.

The bus, which features banks of laptop computers, makes weeklong tours through all 50 states promoting www.pparx.org, the program’s online database service.

“The fact that it is open to all Arizonans is important,” Rep. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, said after the event. “Drugs are too expensive for some people in the community.”

The program is targeted at people who struggle to afford medication for chronic diseases such as diabetes and asthma.

“This service is so vital,” said Sen. Richard Miranda, D-Phoenix. “Being a diabetic myself I know how important it is to take your medication.”

Mark Grayson, senior director of communications for sponsor Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said the program preempts the cost of treating people in advanced stages of diseases by connecting them with resources that help them afford to the medication they need.

“It is important to make sure people who need access to prescription drugs find a way to get them,” Grayson said.

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PHOTOS: Click thumbnails to see full-resolution images and download; caption information is in the file under File>File Info.

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CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: The “Help is Here Express” bus, which is on a weeklong tour to help uninsured and financially struggling Arizonans learn about programs offering free or discounted prescription drugs, stops Thursday in front of the State Capitol. The Partnership for Prescription Assistance, a national campaign run by pharmaceutical research companies, takes the bus around all 50 states. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Alyson Zepeda)

020509-prescriptiondrugs-sign.jpg
CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-PRESCRIPTION DRUGS: The “Help is Here Express” bus, which is on a weeklong tour to help uninsured and financially struggling Arizonans learn about programs offering free or discounted prescription drugs, stops Thursday in front of the State Capitol. The Partnership for Prescription Assistance, a national campaign run by pharmaceutical research companies, takes the bus around all 50 states. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Alyson Zepeda)