Don't feel sorry for Odalis Ramos.  She won't let you.

 "I feel like the happiest woman on earth," she says.

Ramos, 53, has multiple sclerosis.  The disease ended her career in retail management, and, with her medication costing more than $3000 a month, MS also wiped out her savings.  She went three months without her prescriptions and ended up blind and in a wheelchair.  That's what MS does.

Ramos can walk now, and she can see now, thanks to The Assistance Fund, an Orlando-based nonprofit organization.

"We're an organization that helps people who've been prescribed some very expensive drugs and have insurance, but can't afford their co-pay or deductible," says Jeffrey Spafford, the nonprofit's chief executive officer.

The organization's Co-pay Funds are focused on 10 serious diseases that require highly specialized medications: breast cancer, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, non-small cell lung cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, colorectal cancer, multiple myeloma, myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), psoriasis, and wet age-related macular degeneration.

"Whatever the health plan doesn't cover, we'll pick up on behalf of the patient," Spafford explains. 

He says the funds help patients get the treatment they need without giving up the basic essentials of life.

 "They're having to make the decision: Do I pay rent this month or do I pay my co-pay for these medicines I need? Or do I buy groceries?" he says.

Ramos knows those agonizing choices well.  She beams with gratitude when talking about The Assistance Fund.

"They're giving people their life back," Ramos says.  "I have my vision. Every day that I wake up in the morning and I see light, that's all I need.  Every day that I get out of bed and I can walk, I don't need anything else."

While The Assistance Fund is available for specific diseases and medications, Local 6 has found other options to help consumers afford almost any prescription.

Drug companies are actively offering their own drug co-pay cards, which can dramatically reduce the patients' share of the cost when buying brand names.  Pfizer, for example, offers a discount card that brings the cost of its cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor to $4 a month, a savings of up to $50.

There are now 300 different drug company co-pay programs.  Consumers fill more than 100 million prescriptions using the cards, according to recent data.  There is, however, a caveat: federal law prohibits the use of drug company-issued co-pay cards to patients on Medicare and Medicaid.

People who cannot use drug company-issued co-pay cards do have other options.  Retail programs, such as Walgreens' Prescription Savings Club, offer help for patients with or without insurance.  Membership in the Walgreens program costs $20 per year for an individual, $35 for a family.  Benefits include significant discounts on brand name medications and access to thousands of generic drugs.  The generic drugs price out under $12 for a three-month supply.  For example, the full cash price for a three-month supply of cholesterol-lowering drug lovastatin is $62.07; members pay $12, and save $50.70.

Walgreens Pharmacy Manager Dennis Pustinger says the club helps members save storewide.

"If you purchase any Walgreen label items, you get a 10 percent rebate that gets put on that [Savings Club] card," he says.

Ramos, who is now back to her morning walks and her lakeside meditations, says the patient must take control and find these options. Persistence, she says, pays off.

"I think it has been an honor to survive and tell the story, so others have hope," she says. 

She turns her face to the sky.  The sun can't compete with the radiance of her face.

More information:

You can learn more about the Assistance Fund at http://theassistancefund.org/ or call 877.245.4412.
You must meet income eligibility requirements to qualify.

Drug company co-pay cards are usually available through a physician or directly on the manufacturer's website.

Applications for the Walgreens Prescription Savings Club are available at retail locations or online at www.walgreens.com.