The high cost of specialty medications to treat conditions such cancer, inflammatory conditions and bleeding disorders can be daunting for patients and plan sponsors alike. With the average cost of a specialty medication being more than $3,000 , deciding between tuition, living expenses, extra-curricular activities and medication are choices students and their families navigating a specialty condition may feel like they have to make – but it doesn’t need to be this way.
Ensuring continuity of care and having medical support at school allows students to better pursue their studies and enjoy the college experience, health experts say. Accredo is proud to work with specialty patients, including those who may be students, to make affording their specialty medications one less financial burden.
Accredo has helped thousands of patients find and benefit from financial assistance through various manufacturer and foundational assistance programs. Patients on a specialty medication with available copay assistance, and who meet any additional qualifications often find their share of the cost for their medication reduced significantly. Accredo has a dedicated team who work to proactively identify available copay assistance for patients. These Copay Assistance Representatives will help the patient enroll in the available manufacturer assistance programs real-time, so it takes effect as quickly as possible. One patient who benefited from copay assistance said, “They’re super helpful, and they go above and beyond. Accredo called the drug manufacturer with me and they stayed on the line, navigating me through the process to update and obtain a new co-pay card from the manufacturer. So, I was very appreciative of what that individual did.”
Enrollment in a copay assistance program can bring a sense of financial relief to students and their families struggling to pay for high-cost medications. Since 2016, Accredo has coordinated $5+ billion in copay assistance across conditions, with $1.7 billion in 2021 alone . These programs can also help to improve therapy adherence. For example, Accredo research shows that having access to financial assistance programs positively impacts adherence by 7 percent for patients taking medications for inflammatory conditions and 8 percent for patients taking oral oncology medications. With the help of Accredo and copay assistance programs, specialty patients can reduce financial stress and manage their condition with confidence.
“They’re super helpful, and they go above and beyond. Accredo called the drug manufacturer with me and they stayed on the line, navigating me through the process to update and obtain a new co-pay card from the manufacturer. So, I was very appreciative of what that individual did.”
– Copay assistance program patient
Accredo helps patients with chronic specialty conditions thrive
Accredo specialty pharmacy serves patients with complex and chronic health conditions including cancer, inflammatory conditions, bleeding disorders and other rare diseases. Living with these conditions and navigating the challenges of the medications used to treat them can be difficult – that’s why Accredo supports specialty patients with an ecosystem of clinicians and experts with condition-specific expertise.
At Accredo, our 15 condition-specific Therapeutic Resource Centers (TRC) allow us to deliver individualized care to patients who need it most. Accredo patients have access to and support from:
- Specialty-trained pharmacists
- Field-based infusion nurses who meet patients for in-person administration and coaching
- Telephonic nurse educators
- Nutrition counseling and social worker support
- Proactive copay assistance coordination
- Safe, prompt delivery of medications
Accredo is the recommended provider of specialty medications through Wellfleet Rx. Enrollment in the specialty pharmacy program is easy. Members can speak to a patient-care representative toll-free at 1-877-895-9697 to get started. To learn more visit Accredo.com.
About the author
Meghan Pasicznyk is Vice President of Accredo Product, responsible for driving new solutions and strategies across a broad specialty stakeholder group, including patients, providers, manufacturers and payers. Meghan has previous experience in payer product and business development and payer Account Management at Accredo and in managing B2B relationships at a large pharmaceutical manufacturer. She earned her Doctor of Pharmacy and Master of Business Administration degrees from Butler University.
Resources
1 Accredo DTR data
2 Kaiser Health News. (2021, August 23). Headed Away to School? Here’s What Students With Health Issues Need to Know. Retrieved on August 16, from https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-08-23/headed-away-to-school-heres-what-students-with-health-issues-need-to-know.
3 Accredo BoB data, 2021 and 2016-2021
4 Express Scripts Data – study included a subset of multiple sclerosis, inflammatory conditions and oncology patients on chronic therapy enrolled in a copay assistance program in 2015
5 Based on Accredo copay assistance billed and paid claims data for oncology 2021
