Mobile aid center visits

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POCATELLO - About 300 of the 1,000 patients who visit Cedar Health Center each year have no insurance, according to the clinic's director Kathy Werner-Leap.

''A few of our patients have insurance but don't have prescription coverage under their insurance,'' said Werner-Leap, a psychiatrist nurse practitioner. ''Then there are also a number of our patients who have insurance but have very high deductibles.''

So it came as a great relief to patients when a nationwide assistance programs, the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, made a stop at Cedar on Monday.

PPA has aided 30 of the clinic's patients seeking financial assistance in purchasing drugs for mental disorders.

Last year, PPA drew nearly 80 Cedar patients to the programs' first annual tour stop in Pocatello.

The nationwide tour, which involves orange charter buses traveling through all 50 states, offers more than 475 assistance programs designed to provide coverage for moderate wage earners who cannot afford the prescription drugs needed to treat mental illnesses.

''This is not our first time here. We've been to the state about three or four times,'' said Jeff Trewhitt, a public affairs director for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, one of the companies sponsoring PPA. ''Since then, a little more than 31,000 people in Idaho have applied for help, and about 89 percent have been helped.''

Cedar has built the majority of its foundation around patient assistance. Werner-Leap said patient assistance has become necessary due to rising healthcare costs and the fact that mental patients often receive insufficient medical coverage.

Additionally, Trewhitt said providing patient assistance provides a great deal of relief for mental patients who cannot afford to pay hospitals and other health clinics. Likewise, the benefits work in reverse for public hospitals and clinics looking to save on free medical coverage.

''Mental illnesses has cost the state and employers of Idaho about $3 billion in lost productivity,'' Trewhitt said. ''Medicines are very important to those who suffer from chronic diseases, and you're preventing people from going into the hospitals. You're saving money because you don't have patients going into the hospital.''

Of PPA's 475 patient assistance programs, nearly 200 are owned by pharmaceutical companies. State and federal agencies own the remainder.

During its tour stops, PPA's consultants inside the charter bus can determine within 15 minutes which assistance programs a patient is eligible to receive. The process is carried by asking each patient a series of 10 questions, such as his or her home address, household income and medical coverage history.

The programs will give individuals a maximum of $19,000 in assistance. Couples can receive a maximum of $24,000. Families of three can receive up to $31,000. The maximum contribution for families of four is $37,000.

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