‘Help is Here Express’ bus stops in Americus

Becky Holland

AMERICUS September 03, 2008 11:18 pm

— Residents couldn’t help but notice the great big, vibrantly colored bus parked in the lot next to the Movie Gallery store off of Ga. Highway 27 East on Wednesday afternoon.
Especially with the lettering, “Help is Here” screaming across the side and front.
Curiosity levels were raised as the doors opened, and Abigail Horn, manager, public affairs for the Edison Group, stepped down the stairs.
“Welcome, Come on in,” she said.
Though the bus was only in Americus for a brief media stop, Partnership for Prescription Assistance wanted to make the public aware of its program.
According to Katie Michael, director of communications for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the PPA Help is Here bus tour was on its way to Albany from LaGrange, and though the tour, which is sponsored by area medical and pharmaceutical organizations, was not scheduled to stop in Americus, “We just wanted to make your readers aware that help is available. We have no age limit on who we help,” said Michael, standing in front of one of many computer terminals on the bus. “We’re just an available resource for patients who don’t know where to go or how to start looking for help in achieving the best possible medical care they can.”
Michael said, “We have served over 207,000 people in Georgia, with our bus tours. There are two buses and we have criss crossed the country, serving over five million nationwide. Just because you may not qualify for insurance or certain other programs through the state or government, doesn’t mean that help is not available. What we do is go through an application process on the computers, looking for the medicines, put in vital information about the patient, print out the application and point them in the right direction to get help if we can’t get them the help,” said Michael.
“I have been with the company for about a year and half, and it is great,” she said. “We are out here to help people in need, and to see the relief on their faces within minutes after the application process starts, well, you can’t help but feel good. Patients can be helped on the bus or they can visit our website at www.pparx.org or call 1-888-4PPA-NOW for more details. If you don’t have prescription coverage, and can’t afford your medicines, call us, visit our site. You could get them free or nearly free.”