Readers of this column frequently call me or stop me in the local grocery store aisles to comment on something about which I have written, but the column I did recently on free drug programs available from drug manufacturers has received the most interest.

I’m always shocked when I hear how much insurance premiums are for prescription drug coverage and try to encourage folks to find out about assistance programs that are available through the state and even the companies that make those expensive prescriptions.

If you feel unsure about contacting a drug manufacturer directly about their Patient Assistance Program, you may want to contact MedHelp Maine. It is a fairly new program, one I hadn’t heard about. After my column appeared, I received a press release about this group which helps Maine patients get the help they need regarding low-cost or, in most cases, no-cost medicine.

MedHelp Maine is a nonprofit organization established to develop community-based prescription assistance programs managed by hospitals or other organizations. All MedHelp Maine services are provided without charge. Through its coordinators, up-to-date information is available on help available through a variety of sources including drug manufacturers.

In the two years since it was organized, MedHelp Maine and its prescription assistance program partners have obtained $4.5 million worth of free medications through drug manufacturers. The following information has been received from MedHelp Maine and we’re sharing it with readers, as an example of what can be accomplished by having access to a prescription assistance coordinator:

From January to June of this year, a Medicare beneficiary with a very satisfactory drug plan had been obtaining 10 prescription medicines affordably from a local pharmacy.

In June, though, when trying to obtain the refill of a prescribed asthma inhaler, this individual learned from the pharmacist that, with basic Medicare drug plan benefits now exhausted, the beneficiary must pay the entire cost of the next several thousand dollars’ worth of drugs.

Unable to afford even the $120 cost of the inhaler, the patient left the pharmacy without it.

Concerned about the health effects of interrupting established therapy, this patient later found a prescription assistance advocate who was able to identify a number of public and private programs that together would ensure continued affordable access. The anticipated $2,000 cost for the next 90-days’ worth of medicines was then reduced to only about $50!

MedHelp Maine’s toll-free information line, (888) 283-9883, and Web site, www.medhelpmaine.org, provide contact information for existing prescription assistance programs available to area patients and practitioners.

The six organizations that developed their programs with guidance and funding from Biddeford-based MedHelp Maine are: Bridgton Hospital, Brunswick’s Oasis Health Network, Cary Medical Center in Caribou, Ellsworth’s Maine Coast Memorial Hospital,

Redington-Fairview General Hospital in Skowhegan and York Hospital.

Other communities offering prescription assistance services for their residents include Bar Harbor, Houlton, Knox County, Rumford and Sanford.

To ensure medication access by all Mainers, to lessen the need for hospital and practitioner charity care and to enhance personal and community health, MedHelp Maine is developing a statewide network of these community resources.

Without charge, it will help hospitals, hospital networks and other appropriate health care organizations create new community prescription assistance programs.

MedHelp Maine presently is soliciting applications for board membership from individuals interested in expanding prescription assistance services throughout Maine. Inquiries may be made to 283-4461.