Inside the bright orange "Help is Here Express," people are signing up for free or reduced prescription medications, on computer laptops connected to the internet. America's pharmaceutical research companies each have separate programs for people who can't afford medications, but finding out about them and signing up isn't very straightforward. That's according to Jenny Camper of the Partnership for Prescription Assistance, which is run by an industry trade association. She mans the sign-in table outside the bus.
Jenny Camper: So Merck has a program, Pfizer has a program. And then the nice thing about the bus is that it offers a one stop shop for where you can learn about all the company programs in one visit and then apply for them if you qualify for them.
Camper says people who can't make it to the bus can call the Partnership for Prescription Assistance to sign up for programs. The Help is Here Express has assisted more than 750,000 Ohioans since its launch two years ago. The bus is headed to Georgia next. Lisa Ann Pinkerton, 90.3.