Drug company-sponsored patient assistance programs: a viable safety net?
Drug company-sponsored patient assistance programs (PAPs) provide access to brand-name medications at little or no cost and have been advocated as a safety net for inadequately insured patients. Yet little is known about these programs. We surveyed drug company-sponsored PAPs and found much variability in their structures and application processes. Most cover one or two drugs. Only 4 percent disclosed how many patients they had directly helped, and half would not disclose their income eligibility criteria. A better understanding of PAPs might clarify their role in improving access to medications, the adequacy of existing public programs, and their impact on cost-effective medication use.
Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. nchoudhry@partners.org
Niteesh K
NK
Choudhry
Joy L
JL
Lee
Jessica
J
Agnew-Blais
Colleen
C
Corcoran
William H
WH
Shrank
D026686:Beneficence; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000191:economics; D030881:Disclosure; D016527:Drug Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000191:economics*; D004608:Eligibility Determination; D005381:Financing, Organized / Q000191:economics*; D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000191:economics; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008483:Medical Assistance / Q000191:economics*; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D017664:Uncompensated Care / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States
D011619:Psychotropic Drugs