Medication-Assistance Program (MAP)
Medications, including many prescribed to treat major life-threatening illnesses, can be tough to pay for, even when a person has medical insurance to cover the bulk of the expense. But imagine if you have no insurance at all, or else have very limited coverage — how do you possibly afford costly medications that may be crucial to your health?
In short, you probably don’t. People in such circumstances are frequently forced to go without their medications altogether, or else opt to alter prescribed dosages in an attempt to ration the medications they already have on hand. They do these things at great personal risk, and very often, at an ultimately higher cost to local healthcare services when a consequent health crisis occurs.
The HealthAssist Medication-Assistance Program (MAP) arose to address this very need. A partnership with NC MedAssist, MAP is designed to help the uninsured and underinsured in eastern North Carolina obtain needed medications they might otherwise not be able to afford. The program works directly with local pharmaceutical companies to enable qualified patients to obtain those medications either for free, or at a greatly reduced cost.
Who’s Eligible for MAP?
The Medication Assistance program is for people who:
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- Have no health insurance and cannot afford their prescribed medications
- Have health insurance, but no prescription coverage
- Don’t qualify for Medicaid or other government or third-party programs that pay for prescription medications
- Meet participating drug companies’ financial guidelines
A MAP medication-assistance specialist receives referrals to the program from physician offices, medical case managers, diabetes services, or even from patients themselves. The MAP specialist helps qualifying patients to complete program-application forms, and also in collecting any additional information that a pharmaceutical company might require to process a particular request for medication assistance.
Over-the-Counter (OTC) Medications
HealthAssist also collaborates with NC MedAssist to provide over-the-counter (OTC) medications to uninsured and underinsured eastern North Carolinians. NC MedAssist routinely supplies MAP with OTC medications that are then distributed by HealthAssist case managers to staff members at participating free and low-cost medical clinics.
As funding is available, NC MedAssist also sponsors periodic regional “OTC Giveaway” events, where MAP staff distribute OTC medications to qualifying local residents.
For More Information
Contact Shantell Cheek, HealthAssist Coordinator, at (252) 847-2224, or shantell.cheek@accesseast.org.