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Access to medicine
Developed countries

Corporate Responsibility Report 2008

Developed countries

Access to medicines is not only an issue for the developing world. Even in developed countries some patients cannot afford the medicines they need.

This is a particular problem in the US where many people do not have health insurance and there is limited public health provision.

We have developed Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) and discount savings cards in the US and we have introduced discount cards in some middle-income countries.

Programmes in the US

Our Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) and discount savings cards provide prescription medicines to uninsured patients in the US free or at minimal cost. GSK operates several programmes, including Commitment to Access, which covers cancer treatments, and Bridges to Access, which covers other medicines for outpatients. Patients are registered trough one phone call from a patient advocate and receive medicine at their local pharmacy or by mail order.

GSK Access provides extra help for low-income senior and disabled patients enrolled in Medicare Part D. This programme provides free medicines for eligible patients who have spent $600 or more on prescription medicines during the current year, and whose income is between 135 per cent and 250 per cent of the Federal Poverty Level. The Federal Poverty level is about $11,000 for a single person, $14,500 for a couple and $22,000 for a family of four.

We are a member of Together Rx Access, an industry programme which gives uninsured US citizens 25 to 40 per cent discounts on medicines from GSK and seven other pharmaceutical companies. The programme is open to people who earn up to four times the federal poverty level. Nearly two million Americans are enrolled in Together Rx Access.

We are also working with governments and employers in the US to find new ways to address the problem of chronic diseases while reducing healthcare costs

Discount cards in other countries

GSK has introduced discount cards in Lithuania and Ukraine to enable low-income patients with chronic diseases such as asthma to obtain prescription medicines at a discount price.