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Have you suffered from paying too much for your prescription medications?Prescription drugs can make it a lot easier to manage your health; but they can come with a huge price tag, leaving you burdened. Use of prescription drugs can also lead to many people depending on these medications.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, over the last 10 years, the percentage of Americans who took at least one prescription drug in the past month increased from 44 percent to 48 percent.

Have you heard of patient assistance programs?

Patient assistant programs have been around for a few decades but have gained popularity in recent years. There are also over 200 programs available that are run by pharmaceutical companies to make sure you are able to receive your medication at little to no cost.

The main criteria to get assistance from the patient assistant programs are a lack of prescription drug coverage and your income level. For instance, if you are single and make around $23,000-24,000 a year, you could qualify.

Emergency Medicine trained physician, Timothy McNamee, MD, joins Melanie Cole, MS, to discuss patient assistant programs, the services provided through these programs and the steps to take to apply for these programs.