FAQ: Discounted/ Free Medical Care and Medicines - U.S. and International

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Find information about discounted/ free medical care and medicines for the US and other countries at these sites:

U.S. - Medical care and medicines resources

• MedlinePlus topic pages
  Clearinghouses or organizations for may give you referrals to free medication programs. To identify them, search for the web page about your disease in MedlinePlus, http://medlineplus.gov
  
  
  • Financial Assistance
    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/financialassistance.html
    
    
  • Medicaid
    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/medicaid.html
    
    
  • Medicare
    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/medicare.html
    
    
  • MedlinePlus GoLocal
    http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/golocal/index.html
    
    1. Choose a state of region
    2. Search under "Services by Providers, Facilities, and Services"
    3. Click "Community Clinics"

• Financial Assistance for medical care and medicines
  http://www.genome.gov/11008842
  
  
• Find Affordable Health Care: Find a Health Center
  Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
  http://ask.hrsa.gov/pc/
  
  
• State or county health departments or social workers at your local hospital
  http://www.apha.org/about/Public+Health+Links/LinksStateandLocalHealthDepartments.html
  
  
• State Hospital Associations
  http://www.aha.org/aha/colleagues/directory/index.html
  
  
• The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America work with doctors to make referrals to programs that provide drugs to needy patients. For more information, visit https://www.pparx.org/Intro.php
  
  
• VA Health Care Eligibility & Enrollment page, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
  If you are or have served in the U.S. Armed Forces, or are a dependent of someone who is or has served in the U.S. Armed Forces
  http://www.va.gov/healtheligibility
  
  
• Check your phone book for local medical and dental schools (which frequently offer free or low-cost clinics), county hospitals, and local government social service agencies.
  
  
• Clinical Trials information: Your health insurance coverage may not include some or all of the patient care costs associated with a clinical trial. This is because some health plans define clinical trials as "experimental" or "investigational" procedures.
  http://clinicaltrials.gov/
  
  Medicare and Clinical Trials explains how Medicare offers people with Medicare coverage the option to join some clinical trials for the diagnosis and treatment of illnesses by paying some of the patient care costs. It can be found at http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/02226.pdf
  
  

International - Medical care and medicines resources outside the U.S.

• FAQ:International Drug Information
  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/drug_intl.html
  
  
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
  http://www.ifrc.org/address/directory.asp
  
  
• Directory of international medical care organizations
  http://dir.yahoo.com/Health/Medicine/Organizations/International_Relief_and_Development/
  
  
• Clinical Trials information
  http://clinicaltrials.gov/
  
  

These resources may help you find information on free/discounted prescription drug or medical treatment programs. NLM does not recommend or endorse any products, services or information found outside of NLM resources.

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http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/freemedcare_int.html

Last reviewed: 12 August 2008
Last updated: 12 August 2008
First published: 25 April 2005
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