St. Joseph Hospital is a member of Covenant Health Systems

A collaboration between St. Joseph Hospital and the Medical Center, The Prescription Assistance Program assists the uninsured and under-insured, as well as elderly patients who fall in the coverage gap or self-pay portion of Medicare part D receive free long- term medications. Robin Gage, Prescription Assistance Coordinator, helps patients apply to the pharmaceutical companies to receive free or reduced-price medications.

Talk to your provider. Let your doctor know that you are having trouble paying for your long-term medication(s). Then call the Prescription Assistance office at (603) 577-2348.

No. Prescription Assistance can only help you receive medications prescribed for 90 days or longer. Talk to your provider about other options for receiving short-term medications.

When you call Prescription Assistance, Gage will ask you several questions to determine if Prescription Assistance is the right program for you. Then she will send you the program application and a list of the documents you must submit in order to qualify to receive the free medications from the pharmaceutical companies. She is also available to help you complete your Prescription Assistance application.

Four to six weeks. Once you have completed and submitted the necessary paperwork to Prescription Assistance, Gage forwards the application to your doctor's office for the written prescriptions. After the doctor adds the prescription information, she then sends the entire application to the appropriate pharmaceutical company. If you meet the pharmaceutical company guidelines, you can expect to receive your prescription in four to six weeks.

In your physician's office. The pharmaceutical company sends your medication directly to your doctor's office where you can pick it up.

No. Once you have completed your initial application with Prescription Assistance, Gage handles the rest. Each application is good for one year.

This free service is available for adults of all ages. For more information or to request an application to enroll, call The Prescription Assistance Program at (603) 577-2348.