How does Part D interact with Patient Assistance Programs?
Some pharmaceutical companies offer assistance programs for the drugs they manufacture. Under these programs, seniors with limited means could receive free or subsidized medication. You may participate in a Part D plan and still receive help with your drugs from a Patient Assistance Program (PAP). However, the help you receive from a PAP must remain outside the Medicare program. In other words, you cannot submit any costs for your subsidized drugs to your Part D plan, and the PAP assistance cannot count towards your True-Out-of-Pocket (TrOOP) cost (the expenses that count toward getting you out of the donut hole). To see if there are any PAPs available for the drugs you are taking, visit Medicare’s website at http://www.medicare.gov/pap/index.asp or contact Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE.
Some pharmaceutical companies offer assistance programs for the drugs they manufacture. Under these programs, seniors with limited means could receive free or subsidized medication. You may participate in a Part D plan and still receive help with your drugs from a Patient Assistance Program (PAP). However, the help you receive from a PAP must remain outside the Medicare program. In other words, you cannot submit any costs for your subsidized drugs to your Part D plan, and the PAP assistance cannot count towards your True-Out-of-Pocket (TrOOP) cost (the expenses that count toward getting you out of the donut hole). To see if there are any PAPs available for the drugs you are taking, visit Medicare’s website at www.medicare.gov/pap/index.asp or contact Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE.
