In the last few days, I’ve had a large number of people sign up for underwritten individual/family policies knowing they’re going to have an exclusion on a medication they’re currently taking.  They would pay 2 to 5x more in premiums compared to the cost of the medication to get a guarantee issue “group” policy like Cover Colorado.  So they understand that getting a policy with an exclusion is their best option, but they still may not be able to pay for the medication they need so badly.

In this situation, I give people a couple options to possibly still get their medications covered:

• First, needymeds.com is a non-profit organization setup to assist people that need help paying for their medicine.  They don’t actually provide the medicine, but they help you find programs that can.
• Second, bidforRx.com has pharmacies compete for your business using a reverse-bidding process.  You just give them the medications you need, and you just choose the best bid.