Oklahoma Drug Card Media Center

If you or someone you know is struggling with medication costs, I want to remind you about some different programs that can help with prescription drug costs.

The first is the Oklahoma Drug Card, which is a prescription discount card free to all Oklahomans regardless of income, age or any other criteria. It can be downloaded at www.oklahomadrugcard.com.

If you don't have access to a printer, Kmart has agreed to print them for free or you can always print them at your local library.

The card provides an average savings of 30 percent at more than 50,000 national and regional pharmacies. Most medications are covered under the program, and savings can be as high as 75 percent in some cases.

The good thing about this program is that unlike others, there are no fees and your account cannot be canceled without your consent.

Other companies, such as Wal-Mart, also offer prescription programs that don't require a card. They have hundreds of prescription drugs and more than 1,000 over-the-counter medications priced at only $4 per 30-day supply. For a list of the available medicines, visit www.walmart.com/pharmacy.

For those that are uninsured or underinsured and struggling, you can also find free help through the Partnership for Prescription Assistance. This organization has trained specialists who can find out if you qualify for one or more of 475 patient assistance programs, many of which offer free or nearly free prescription medicines. To find out which programs you may qualify, visit www.pparx.org or call (888) 4PPA-NOW.

Another free program is the Patient Assistance Now program. This is an easy-to-use, comprehensive resource that may help uninsured patients pay for their Novartis medicines and find information to take care of their health. Patient Assistance Now also offers educational programs and resources on a wide range of conditions, diseases and Novartis medicines, as well as information about Novartis clinical trials.

To learn more about this program, visit www.PatientAssistanceNow.com or call (800) 245-5356 for specific information about programs and services available. The Web site also offers a program finder for programs that help eligible patients pay for their medicines.