The Alternative Press

United Way of Greater Union County and the FamilyWize Community Service Partnership have teamed up to make prescriptions more affordable for those without insurance or even those who have insurance that do not cover their prescription medicine.

FamilyWize cards have provided needed relief with great success, saving 7,203 people in the greater Union County community, more than $586,629 on the cost of their medicine. However, there are still many more people whose health is endangered because their prescriptions are too expensive or they are not getting the medicines they need.

Surveys in the last two years by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that supports independent research on health care issues, noted many difficulties people faced, including the loss of health insurance and prescription benefits, as a result of becoming unemployed:

• 57% with health benefits through their employer, lost their benefits after losing their jobs
• 52% of uninsured adults with a chronic conditions skipped taking the proper doses of medicines, did not refill, or decided altogether not to fill a prescription because of they could not afford the medicine.

Even people with insurance through their employer may find that the cost of the prescriptions keep them from taking medicine as directed by their health care provider.  The problem is particularly worse for those with high deductible plans. According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, their study demonstrated that 31% of people who had a deductible of at least $1,000 skipped a dose of medicine to lengthen the use of the prescription or didn't fill a prescription because of the high cost.

"As part of our family strengthening initiatives, we are committed and focused on keeping our families healthy.  Health-related issues are one of the barriers to becoming a strong viable family and thus a strong vibrant community." said James W. Horne, Jr., President & CEO of the United Way of Greater Union County.  “Through this initiative, we are working with FamilyWize and our network partners to find and help residents in our community who are unemployed, uninsured, and must purchase medicine not covered by their health plans or government programs.  We offer a solution for those who need this help and best of all, it’s easy,” James continued.

United Way of Greater Union County is one of 1,000 local United Ways that have joined the FamilyWize Community Service Partnership over the last eight years.  FamilyWize was recently named a Preferred Partner by United Way Worldwide to provide opportunities for increased awareness and collaborations, nationwide.

"Our partnership with United Way Worldwide and almost 1,000 local United Ways nationwide gives us a national platform to help people in every community across the country," said Dan Barnes, FamilyWize CEO and Co-founder."  Barnes added that FamilyWize has the capacity to help many more people and will be working hard to do so. 

The results of the initiative, nationwide, have been quite impressive:

• 5.2 million people assisted with FamilyWize cards
• Adding 5,000 people served, each day
• $470 million saved on the cost of medications
• Average savings are almost 40% and can be as high as 75% on the cost of medicines.

FamilyWize cards can be used at most pharmacies including all franchise pharmacies and grocery stores with pharmacies, nationwide.

Contact United Way of Greater Union County at 908-353-7171, or for information on how to get a card, visit www.familywize.org to download a card or text "family" to 700700 to get a text version of the card.

About FamilyWize

The FamilyWize Community Service Partnership was established in 2005 to help people get the medicine they need. Today, more than 50,000 community agencies, coordinated by nearly 1,000 participating United Ways and America's Promise Alliance Partners in all 50 states coordinate local distribution of the free FamilyWize prescription drug discount cards, which lower the cost of medicine by up to 75%. As of December 2012, the free FamilyWize cards have helped more than five million people save over $450 million. For more information, visit  FamilyWize.org/about-us

About United Way of Greater Union County

The mission of United Way of Greater Union County is to ensure the health and human services needs of the community are identified and addressed in ways that create a better quality of life for the residents of Union County, North Plainfield and South Plainfield.  UWGUC is dedicated to family strengthening—ensuring that everyone in Greater Union County has the necessary opportunities, relationships and networks to support the success of their family.  Family strengthening is built on three pillars: education, income and health:

• Education is the foundation of a good life, setting an individual on a path of personal fulfillment and economic security. 
• Adequate income to pay for today’s necessities and save for the future provides a family with financial stability and independence. 
• Good health improves a child’s opportunity to learn, increases an adult’s productivity at work and enhances quality of life for the elderly. 

UWGUC partners with non-profits and government agencies throughout the county to help deliver the human services our community needs.  For more information on United Way of Greater Union County, please visit www.uwguc.org.