Desperate for medication but no insurance (no job)?

My daughter is Bi-Polar, newly divorced, desperate for a job-she has a little daughter. The ex-husband is of no use and I am her only family. There is no health insurance-for a while she paid her own insurance but it was too expensive. The money ran out, the insurance cancelled and now her medication is running out. She is taking a combination of three or four medications and without it, she's going to be very ill. I can't help her financially much - I was laid off five years ago myself and took a teaching assignment in Europe paid in local currency; converted to dollars it's a very small amount. My daughter and I communicate via Internet only-and I am worried sick. WHAT or WHO can help her?
Additional Details
P.s. We're both Americans, I work in Europe, my daughter is in Atlanta, Ga.

Many pharmacies are beginning to take part in a plan where the patient pays $4.00 for a 30 supply of a generic drug and $10.00 (I think) for a 90 day supply. Walmart and Meijer are two of the many stores taking part in this program. (Of course, she's going to need a doctor's prescription.)

She can also try going to the Department of Social (Human) Services to apply for Medicaid.

Best of luck.

Well if i am correct, also it depends on where she is from. But in the states we have something called Welfare which provides free insurance, food stamps, cash assitance, etc. That is if your illegible for it. I'm not sure if shes from the states and if so what state so i could research for an welfare site!

call ppa or something. or dr. phil

I know this is too little, too late, but her biggest mistake was letting her insurance run out and not finding a job immediately. If she hadn't had a lapse in her coverage and then got hired on at a job that had group insurance, even if it was at McDonalds, her condition and medications would not have been considered pre-existing conditions and therefore covered as soon as her new policy took effect. Somebody said something about getting generic, if she did have insurance and her medication was still quite costly, it sounds like there isn't a generic medicine for what she's taking.

In the short term, she should go down to the Division of Family services in her city and apply for aid. She then should immediately begin looking for a job with health insurance. She may be able to get state aid until her job's insurance would kick in and pay for her pre-existing condition. State aid is not meant to be long term, only there to help people out when they are in a bind. And I agree with you, she's in one now. But your daughter not only has herself to look after, she has a little girl who is her number one responsibility. If her ex-husband is "of no use" and your daughter herself does not have a job, who is paying for their bills, housing, clothes, food, etc? When couples split and best case scenario that the ex is paying his child support, it is "support", not her salary. It is just as much your daughter's responsibilty to provide for her child as it is his. With no job, I don't see how she can be holding up for her part of the deal. There are jobs out there. Many people feel they are beneath them or they are over-qualified, but sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do to put food on the table, clothes on their backs, and in this case, your daughter definitely needs her medication if she is bi-polar. I assume you realize that if she goes off her medication for being bi-polar, this is certainly not a good thing at all. People who are bi-polar are completely unstable and money isn't the only thing you should be worried about. If your daughter is bi-polar and off her meds, she stands a very real chance of losing custody of her daughter.

So #1, no matter what, she has to find a way to get temporary assistance with her meds. She can apply for medicaid and without a job, she will probably qualify for it. Then she needs to immediately find a job that has group health insurance. If for some reason she didn't qualify for medicaid, as someone else said, each drug company has their own patient assistance programs and you can get your medicines for a very discounted price. The best one I've found when helping my patients look for assistance is linked below. Good luck to you, your daughter, and her little girl.

I agree with someone earlier who said to check with Department of Human Services to check for aid programs she is eligible for to include WIC (if child 5 or under), food stamps, TANF, Medicaid and child support pursuit. Another resource she might check is local mental health organizations because some clinics will operate on an income sensitive sliding scale. She could also ask her doctor about prescription assistance through the drug companies. Many, like Pfizer or Novartis, offer prescription meds to low income, uninsured patients through their patient assistant programs, many for free. Some programs help with one month some help with multiple and can be renewed periodically with current income verifications. Best of luck to you both.

Mental conditions now qualify as disabilities, so she can apply to the government for disability benefits for having bipolar disorder.

I'd say DCF would be a good place to start. Maybe she can get on Medicaid. When I lived in the Bay Area they had places that offered sliding scales based on your budget. Thats another alternative too. The government does not jump as you know. So I would suggest she gets the ball rolling now.

Tell her to ask her doctor about patient assistant programs that specifically cover drugs. Often, a patient can get the drugs they need for nothing. The one exception that I am aware of is birth control.

Here are three links for you.

In America, treatment can be received even without money! I understand your concern but the facts are that the Department of Human Services deal with this every day and all your daughter has to do is get off her behind and go fill out some paper work and she will be helped! She must do it quickly and hopefully before she is out of her needed meds! Her lack of ability to pay is taken care of by federal law! Adjustments as per income can make it affordable to her. Send her to a free clinic!

Definately ask her to go to a local (county operated) mental health outpatient clinic. They can help her with mental health eval, meds, and other services. Also, since this is county, they will evaluate her financial ability that might even refer her to Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) to get extra help for her and her daughter.

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