CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- In the three months since it filled its first prescription, the state-managed central-fill pharmacy is on pace to enroll 10,000 patients in its first year - patients who otherwise could not afford their prescriptions, according to the program's director.

Barbara Dane, director of West Virginia Rx, told the Pharmaceutical Cost Management Council that the program initially enrolled about 200 patients, but that number has grown dramatically with a Web site (www.wvrx.org) that allows doctors to register patients in as little as one minute.

"It really is going to expand very quickly," she said.

That should allow the new central-fill pharmacy to fill 50,000 free prescriptions, at an estimated value of $7.5 million in its first year, she said.

For patients and prescribers, WVRx provides a one-stop shop, coordinating the various free prescription drug programs that pharmaceutical manufacturers offer to low-income patients.

Dane said the program is intended to serve the estimated 400,000 uninsured adults in West Virginia.

"Many are working men and women who cannot afford to get sick," she said. "Most of our patients walk out of their physician's office with two or three prescriptions they cannot afford."

To enroll, participants must show that they are West Virginia residents, have no health insurance, including Medicaid, and provide proof that their income does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty level - $20,800 for an individual, $42,400 for a family of four.

Participants must pay a $30 annual fee to offset processing costs, Dane said. She said the annual fee is also intended to "put a value" on the program for participants.

Ultimately, the hope is that if patients are able to afford their prescription drugs through WVRx, they will be less likely to end up in hospitals as charity care patients, she said.

"Even a minimal impact promises to save millions of dollars," she told the council.

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 348-1220.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- In the three months since it filled its first prescription, the state-managed central-fill pharmacy is on pace to enroll 10,000 patients in its first year - patients who otherwise could not afford their prescriptions, according to the program's director.

Barbara Dane, director of West Virginia Rx, told the Pharmaceutical Cost Management Council that the program initially enrolled about 200 patients, but that number has grown dramatically with a Web site (www.wvrx.org) that allows doctors to register patients in as little as one minute.

"It really is going to expand very quickly," she said.

That should allow the new central-fill pharmacy to fill 50,000 free prescriptions, at an estimated value of $7.5 million in its first year, she said.

For patients and prescribers, WVRx provides a one-stop shop, coordinating the various free prescription drug programs that pharmaceutical manufacturers offer to low-income patients.

Dane said the program is intended to serve the estimated 400,000 uninsured adults in West Virginia.

"Many are working men and women who cannot afford to get sick," she said. "Most of our patients walk out of their physician's office with two or three prescriptions they cannot afford."

To enroll, participants must show that they are West Virginia residents, have no health insurance, including Medicaid, and provide proof that their income does not exceed 200 percent of the federal poverty level - $20,800 for an individual, $42,400 for a family of four.

Participants must pay a $30 annual fee to offset processing costs, Dane said. She said the annual fee is also intended to "put a value" on the program for participants.

Ultimately, the hope is that if patients are able to afford their prescription drugs through WVRx, they will be less likely to end up in hospitals as charity care patients, she said.

"Even a minimal impact promises to save millions of dollars," she told the council.

Reach Phil Kabler at ph...@wvgazette.com or 348-1220.