HIGH POINT – A new prescription drug program being offered through the Community Clinic of High Point could make prescription drugs available – at no cost – to individuals who presently are not eligible for clinic services.

“This is a way in which we can broaden our outreach and reach people who don’t qualify for this clinic,” said Jerri White, executive director of the clinic. “We cover people who are at 100 percent of the federal poverty level, but this new program will cover people at 200 percent of the poverty level.”

The new program is the NC MedAssist Central Fill Pharmacy, a pilot program of the N.C. Association of Free Clinics, designed to provide prescription medications to uninsured and underinsured patients.

The Community Clinic of High Point will begin accepting enrollment calls Oct. 19, White said.

In addition to making prescription drugs available to a wider population, NC MedAssist will simplify the process a patient has to go through in order to receive prescription assistance from various pharmaceutical companies.

“Every drug manufacturer has a prescription assistance program, or PAP, and for those patients that qualify, they will ship that medication directly to that patient,” explains Jason Baisden, executive director of the N.C. Association of Free Clinics.

“But the hang-up is that it’s pretty difficult to navigate that field. The manufacturers all have different eligibility requirements, they all have different paperwork to fill out, and they all have different renewal periods. As a result, trying to keep up with all of that is pretty laborious.”

Instead, NC MedAssist is partnering with drug manufacturers to use the Central Fill Pharmacy as a centralized distribution site. Major manufacturers such as AstraZeneca, Eli Lilly, Alcon and Novartis are already on board, according to Baisden.

“What we’re doing is going to drug manufacturers and saying, ‘Why not ship bulk medications to this one location, and we will be responsible for distributing it throughout North Carolina,’” Baisden said. “It will be one-application-fits-all, and it only has to be filled out once a year. That provides some cost savings to the drug manufacturers, because they only have to ship to one place.”

NC MedAssist, in turn, will distribute the medications to participating agencies such as free clinics, health departments and rural health clinics.

Those who are eligible for NC MedAssist include:

• Adults and children at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.

• Adults and children who have no other means for acquiring prescription medications, such as private health insurance or Medicaid.

• Medicare Part D participants who fall into the “donut hole” may be eligible, but they will need to consult with NC MedAssist representatives first.

In addition, an individual must be a resident of the county in which the clinic is located to qualify for the program.

Currently, participating patients in the pilot program are not required to pay an enrollment fee, but that could be subject to change.

“There’s no enrollment fee right now,” Baisden said, “but we have in our business plan the provision to charge up to $25 per year per patient. We’re not doing it this year, and we don’t plan to do it next year, but we had to put a sustainability model in our business plan, just in case we need it.”

White said partnering with the NC Med-Assist program will be a good thing for the Community Clinic of High Point and its patients.

“This is a pilot program, so we don’t have a clue how the numbers will play out,” she said, “but it’s bound to help some people out there who have needs. This program will expand what we’re already doing.”