Click and dial to cheaper drugs Dr. Jean Riquelme of the Bellin Health Family Medical Center talks about the Partnership for Prescription Assistance during a news conference Thursday (photo by H. Marc Larson). By Anna Krejci News-Chronicle A new prescription drug pricing Web site and toll-free phone number intend to put eligible patients in touch with programs that might help them afford medicine. Partnership for Prescription Assistance is expected to help some of the 27 million people living in the United States who do not have health insurance and whose incomes are 200 percent below the federal poverty line. According to Partnership for Prescription Assistance, more than 250,000 people in Wisconsin earn less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level and are uninsured. Drug assistance programs from governments, private organizations and pharmaceutical companies are highlighted on the Web site and through dialing the toll free number. All together, there are 275 drug assistance programs and pharmaceutical companies offer more than 150. Each program has different eligibility requirements and application processes. On the Web site, a person can apply for multiple programs by filling out consolidated question forms. If calling the toll-free number, callers will speak to a person - not a recording - who can help them find the right program. "This partnership is dedicated to raising awareness of those programs, raising enrollment in those programs, and also making it much easier to gain access to these programs," said Christian Clymer, Internet services director for PhRMA. "No one person should have to know how all different 275 programs work," he said. Dr. Jean Riquelme, president of Wisconsin Academy of Family Physicians, one of the program's partner organizations, called the program a "step in the right direction." As a doctor, she cares for patients at the NEW Free Clinic and is a civil surgeon for the Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services. "It is not the complete answer, for sure," she said, adding the solutions to providing medicine to all who need it are complex. "I'm really glad that the pharmaceutical industry has stepped up to the plate and really help people access their meds," she added. Through Partnership for Prescription Assistance, the program is going nationwide. Public service announcements could air in Wisconsin by the first week of October. Information is available in Spanish, but Riquelme, who works with Hispanics, said people of all races, including seniors to young people working jobs with no benefits need drug payment assistance. "You can't really stereotype. It's just amazing the variety of people that struggle with their medication costs - students, college students," she said. She said people, no matter what their income, should look for price breaks through the program. The Epilepsy Foundation of Central and Notheast Wisconsin, Hmong/American Friendship Association and the Wisconsin Nurses Association are some of the program's 30 partner organizations. For more information, visit www.pparx.org or call 1-888-4PPA-NOW.