THE Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. is now providing uninsured patients with free medication under the Merck’s Patients Assistance Program, CHCC Chief Executive Officer Esther L. Muna, PhD, announced Monday.
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of an outpatient pharmacy drive-thru, Muna said they can now provide access to the patient assistance program since CHCC now has an out-patient pharmacy. Through the program, she said, uninsured patients can receive free medicines including those for chemotherapy and insulin.
In an interview, Muna also said the patient assistance program is a huge benefit for patients receiving oncology services at CHCC. Cancer medication is very expensive, she added. For the first time, she said cancer patients can come in “and we are actually providing them treatment.”
If a cancer patient is uninsured, she said CHCC can provide them with free medication.
Asked how CHCC was able to access this program, Muna said, “Philanthropists donate the medication. There are also manufacturers taking part in the program who donate the free medication.”
“Nobody wants to see someone who needs medication and not getting it,” Muna added.
However, she said because some of the pharmaceutical companies do not send medicines to the CNMI due to shipping issues, CHCC reached out to U.S. Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan for assistance.
“What we did was we tried to avoid these [shipment] obstacles,” Muna said.
She noted these are not just discounted medications. “We are talking about free medication,” she added.
In his September e-newsletter, Kilili mentioned the Merck’s Patient Assistance Program, a private and confidential program that provides free medicine for up to one year to eligible individuals, mostly uninsured.
He said at his congressional office’s urging, Genentech, Pfizer, and Bristol Myers Squibb had agreed to extend their free and reduced cost prescription drug programs to low-income and uninsured patients in the CNMI.
