A Bitter Pill to Swallow: Many Americans Can’t Afford Their Medicine

For the first time in decades, Americans are actually spending less on their medication That’s according to a recent study by IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics which found  the total spending on medicines fell 3.5 percent last year –from $329.2 billion in 2011 to $325.8 billion in 2012. The study attributes much of it to an encouraging trend: the declining use of brand-name drugs and the greater availability of less expensive generics. But it’s not all good news. The study’s authors say that the decrease spending on medications was driven also by consumers cutting back on health care overall – […]

Helpful Online Resources

For today’s blog post we would like to share with our readers some fantastic online healthcare resources. There are many websites out there dedicated to healthcare, some great and some not-so-great. Here are four resources that the staff at NeedyMeds think you will find helpful.   Together Rx Access – Together Rx Access provides a number of different resources for patients and healthcare professionals alike. They have partnered with a number of the nation’s leading pharmaceutical companies to offer a free drug discount card program for those without prescription drug coverage. Furthermore, their website has extensive articles on the Affordable […]

Paying for Home Modifications

When caring for a loved one, many families look for financial assistance to help specifically with the cost of home care services. While there are programs that provide assistance in this area, many families fail to consider other forms of assistance that can make their loved one’s residence more accessible and safer. A safe and accessible home can actually reduce the need for home care services as well as prevent unexpected increases in home care services costs by helping to avoid injuries. This articles aims to help families better understand their financial assistance options for making home modifications for elderly […]

Heart Health Risks in Men – Paying Attention in Your 20’s

According to the CDC, heart disease is the leading cause of death among Americans with 597,689 deaths attributed to it in 2010. Heart disease kills one in four men in the United States. For many older men this is not news, and young men are becoming more aware of the facts every day – yet very few act upon this information. More and more doctors are saying that heart disease can be prevented, but it is up to us to act before it is too late.   So what can we do to prevent heart disease? First off, stop smoking. […]

Streamlined Access to HIV/AIDS Assistance Programs

An estimated 56,000 persons in the United States become infected with HIV every year. Of the 1.1 million persons living with HIV in the United States, approximately 250,000 are not aware of their infection and their risk for transmitting HIV to others. Of those who are unaware, many are diagnosed late in the course of their infection, after a prolonged asymptomatic period during which further transmission may have occurred. Persons who are diagnosed late in their infection miss a valuable opportunity to start HIV care and are at greater risk for AIDS-related complications (than those diagnosed earlier). Therefore, it should […]

About Us

Welcome to the NeedyMeds Voice! We look forward to presenting you with timely, provocative pieces on healthcare reform, patient advocacy, medication and healthcare access, and other health-related news. Our goals are to educate, enlighten, and elucidate; together, we will try to make sense of the myriad and ongoing healthcare-related changes in the U.S. today.