Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
Pfizer: Free Drugs for Unemployed Through MAINTAIN Program
Share: 
by Tina Kells | May 14, 2009 at 04:43 pm
856 views | 0 Recommendations | 1 comment
Phamaceutical giant Pfizer will be offering free drugs to unemployed people who lost their job on or after January 1, 2009. The Pfzier free drugs program, appropriately called MAINTAIN or Medicines Assistance for Those who Are In Need, will be available to eligible people who have lost their job and health insurance through no fault of their own as part of the economic downturn.
To learn more about eligibility in the MAINTAIN Pfizer free drug program visit the Pfizer web site or call 1-800-706-2400. Or use this link to download a PDF copy of the application form.
To qualify for MAINTAIN, the Pfizer free drug program you must meet the following requirements:
- You must have lost your job through no fault of you own
- You must have lost your job on or after January 1, 2009
- You must have had health insurance as part of the job you lost
As the story goes, the MAINTAIN program was started after employees at Pfizer expressed concern over people who would not be able to afford their medication after losing their job. In these tough times those employees proposed a program that would see them and the company share the burden of paying for the medication of unemployed customers.
Pfizer agreed that it made sense, both in customer loyalty and in business practice, to support the MAINTAIN program and will offer 70 different medications to eligible customers for free, including drugs like Lipitor, Celebrex and Viagra.
The MAINTAIN offer seems too good to be true until you look at the details and see that Pfizer has an ulterior motive. Pfizer is covering costly drugs that have cheaper generic alternatives in an effort to keep their customers from making a switch. What will not be covered under the Pfizer free drug program are the costlier medications that treat life threatening conditions like cancer.
Eligible applicants can sign up for the Pfizer free drugs MAINTAIN program beginning May 14, 2009 and will be fully operational as of July 1, 2009. People who qualify for MAINTAIN assistance will be able to stay on the program for one year from the date of their first free prescription, or until they get new health insurance, whichever comes first.
The company will call the program MAINTAIN, an acronym standing for "Medicines Assistance for Those who Are In Need," the company said.
"We all know people who have been laid off recently and have lost their health insurance, making it difficult for them to pay for health care," said Pfizer Regional President of Worldwide Pharmaceuticals Dr. Jorge Puente in a statement.
The program, which will help Pfizer maintain customer loyalty among unemployed U.S. workers, will be open for enrollment through the end of the year. It is open for "eligible Americans who have been unemployed since Jan. 1," the company said.
Pfizer said the program would run on matching Pfizer employee and company funding.
What is NowPublic?
NowPublic lets people work together to cover news events around the world.
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 13:41 on June 8th, 2009
I am letting you know that my husband and others worked very hard for years thinking they were going to retire from their jobs. Then all of a sudden rumors have it, the plant is closing -- and does. My husband draws unemployement and that is taxed. I am unable to work to help him, and we both have Medical Problems and need Medicine, but do not have the income to get all that we need. You may say- well there are four dollar plans, but if you have meds that don't come on the four dollar plan - we can't get them. And believe me four dollars adds up when there only a small income. None of this I'm sure matters to anyone-- but a person gets scared when they can't get the medicines they need, and they have children depending on them to be with them forever and ever, and I am sure you know what I mean. No one lives for ever, but I hope to see my children grown and maybe grandchildren. Thank You For Listening ! People also need help that lost jobs before Jan1-2009.Their is one very important thing I want your Company to know--- The medicines that are made by you, are being ordered by our doctors for our medical problems.I hope you can help in some way for us to continue taking what we need to stay as healthy as we can, Thank You!