PPA connects nearly 10 million people; Celebrates 11th anniversary and launches mobile app

WASHINGTON, April 5, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA) celebrates 11 years of helping people who are struggling with affordable access to their medicines at the pharmacy. In just over a decade, the program has helped connect nearly 10 million uninsured and underinsured patients to assistance programs that may provide the prescription medications they need for free or nearly free.

PhRMA member companies invest heavily in research and development to discover innovative new medicines to help patients live longer, healthier lives. But developing these medicines is not enough if patients are unable to access them. Patient assistance programs sponsored by America's biopharmaceutical research companies are one option to help patients maintain access to needed medicines.

PPA has multiple resources available for patients to access the information they may need. Each month, more than 60,000 people visit the easy-to-use PPA website to find patient assistance programs and additional resources. And to provide patients and caregivers with faster, easier access to information on public and private patient assistance programs, PPA launched a new mobile app, available for free in the Apple App Store and Google Play. The new app lets users search for patient assistance programs and explore a database of nearly 10,000 free or low-cost health care clinics across the country. To date, PPA has connected more than 1 million people with free health care clinics throughout the United States.

The website and new mobile app offer a single point of access to more than 475 public and private patient assistance programs, including nearly 200 offered by biopharmaceutical companies. Together, these programs offer access to more than 2,500 brand-name and generic prescription medicines.

Despite more Americans having insurance, barriers to accessing medicines still exist, underscoring the importance of PPA's platform to educate and empower patients and caregivers to obtain information about their prescription assistance options.

For real-time information on PPA and other consumer health initiatives, read the PPA blog, view our "How to Use PPA" video on YouTube, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

This post originally appeared here: http://catalyst.phrma.org/ppa-celebrates-11th-anniversary-and-launches-mobile-app

Contact: Ieva Augstums; 202-835-3460; [email protected]

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SOURCE Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)