Feb. 22--Bob Svangren didn't know how he would pay for the costly medication he needed after he was diagnosed with diabetes nearly three years ago.
The Kennewick man doesn't have health insurance, and his insulin can cost $250 a month, he said.
But when Svangren started going to Kennewick's Grace Clinic, the staff there told him about drug manufacturer prescription assistance plans that provide free or reduced-cost medications to those who qualify.
"I wasn't really aware before Grace Clinic that there were programs out there," said Svangren, 51, adding he feels lucky to have found out about the programs.
He said he believe many people may be skipping their medication because they can't afford it.
Grace Clinic, which provides health care for uninsured, low-income Benton and Franklin county residents, is hoping to increase community access to the drug programs by offering information and help in applying for the assistance.
The program especially helps those who have chronic diseases because medications to treat conditions such as diabetes or heart disease can be costly.
Grace Clinic hired a prescription assistance coordinator and began offering help to its clients last fall, said Mark Brault, the clinic's board president.
Since then, 64 of the clinic's patients have received more than $76,200 worth of medications, he said.
"There are a lot of prescriptions that are very, very expensive," Brault said, adding that some can cost up to $400 a month. "If you've got two or three or six, that's enormously costly."
The program now has been expanded to all qualifying residents of Benton and Franklin counties and Burbank. Participants must be referred to Grace by their physician.
A communitywide program like Grace's has been missing from the Tri-Cities since Benton-Franklin Access to Care suspended operations nearly a year ago because of a lack of funding.
Access to Care helped low-income, uninsured people obtain free or low-cost medical care and prescriptions.
In 2007 -- the last full year that Access to Care operated -- more than 600 clients filled nearly 1,600 prescriptions that cost a total of more than $531,000 through its prescription assistance program, Brault said.
After Access to Care ended, a task force of health officials gathered several times to discuss how to serve those in the community who don't have health insurance.
"One of the things that group identified as the most immediate need was to get a communitywide prescription assistance program," Brault said. "It really looked to be the best fit to place that in the clinic."
The program is funded by Kennewick-Pasco Rotary, Columbia Center Rotary and the Three Rivers Community Foundation.
Brault said the assistance program not only helps patients, but also doctors' offices.
"There probably is not a single physician in the Tri-Cities who doesn't have patients who can benefit from this program," he said. "The paperwork is reasonably complicated. If you don't do it just right it gets rejected. If you're not doing it all the time, if you don't do enough of it it's a nightmare."
Svangren said since Grace hired the prescription assistance coordinator he's gotten help filling out the paperwork to send to manufacturers.
"She's made it actually quite easy," he said. "They've just saved me a fortune."
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