Are there any programs that help people with their medication costs?

Have you called Medicaid? You can also have her doctor refer a social worker to her case and they can come to the house and tell you all the services in your area that are available to her.

Try the drug company that makes the medication. Some of them advertise that they help people in need as a PR thing.

As part of health care reform, each state was given money to continue/start a high-risk insurance pool. She would be eligible after she has had 6 months without insurance.

You didn’t say what type of insurance she has, but most insurance premiums for someone with a pre-existing condition are going to cost more than $600/month. It is not clear if she can get on her husband’s policy (but if she can she needs to do so before she loses her own coverage). If his insurance is ending, it is not clear if it is traditional insurance or a COBRA policy. If COBRA, there are medical considerations that can warrant an extension.

Need more details to really be able to help . . . .

@silky1 here is a list of a few various places where assitance is available based on certain things like her income and others things. Check them out and see if your sister-in-law qualifies. Get help from your sister-in-law’s social worker through her medical provider to make sure the company offering the assistance has a good reputation. If you need more information or these don’t help, let me know and I’ll try to help some more.

http://www.pparx.org/en

http://www.mitoaction.org/blog/financial-assistance-mito-cocktail

http://www.advhomecare.org/patients-caregivers/nutrition.html

http://www.needymeds.org/free_clinics.taf (This is really cool. It is an interactive map that displays the location of free clinics and medical assistance by location.)

http://www.needymeds.org/

http://www.rxassist.org/

http://www.ssa.gov/prescriptionhelp/

http://www.scbn.org/

http://www.freemedicineprogram.org/

@silky1 I just thought about this. Merck is one of the major pharm companies that make feeding tubes. Here is a link to their programs to help people in need:

If you can find out who makes her feeding tube, I’ll check to see if that company offers assistance.

http://www.pparx.org/

http://www.merck.com/responsibility/pap-information.html?WT.svl=footer

I second needymeds.org – use it myself all the time.