Majority of charity drug assistance programs require patients to be insured

Charity programs meant to help patients access medicines often exclude the uninsured, a new study finds. Researchers looked at six charity organizations that had nearly 275 drug assistance programs and found that 97% of them required that patients have insurance. The amount of assistance offered to patients wasn’t consistent even when accounting for family income. For instance, families with a household income of around $100,000 could get assistance from one foundation of up to $25,000, or about 25% of the income. But families of the same size with a household income of around $125,000 were eligible for about 2%, or up to $2,500, of the income. The study authors call for more transparency in how charities operate to get a better sense of how patients benefit from these programs.