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Foundation launches plan to help local residents with insulin costs
insulin

The Emanuel Medical Center Health Foundation is launching a program for communities in Stanislaus and Merced counties to help lower the cost on insulin medication.

The program, the $2 Charitable Insulin Relief Plan is funded by the EMC Health Foundation and is a collaboration with TIN Rx, an independent pharmacy in Turlock. The plan covers the most-used insulin medications.

From September 2022 through December 2022, insulin-dependent residents of EMC Health Foundation’s service area will only pay $2 for a month’s supply of insulin – or $8 over the next four months.

This program will save people in financial distress hundreds of dollars on their insulin by slashing the expensive prescription co-pays required by many insurance companies. 

The plan does not extend to people who are enrolled in Medi-Cal, Medicare and Tricare, due to special rules imposed by those programs.

The plan is only available to people living in certain zip codes, including 95380 and 95382 for Turlock and Cortez, 95303 for Ballico, 95315 for Delhi, 95316 for Denair and Montpelier, 95324 for Hilmar and Irwin, 95326 for Hughson, 95328 for Keyes and 95374 for Stevinson.

Here is how the program works: 

 

1.      Go online to www.tinrx.com and click on the PharmAffordable Insulin Relief Plan under services.

 

2.      Complete the form and hit send.

 

3.      Or, bring your insulin prescription to the TIN Rx Pharmacy located at 1801 Colorado Ave. in Turlock, where you can fill out the needed form.

 

4.      Or, ask the TIN Rx pharmacist to call your local pharmacy and have the prescription transferred.

 

To be eligible, people will need to certify their financial need because the $2 Insulin Relief Plan is limited to those who cannot otherwise afford their critical diabetes medications. Those wishing to have their medications mailed to them can do so, but they will need to cover the cost of the postage themselves.

“In 2021— for the second straight year — more than 100,000 Americans died from diabetes,” said Jeffrey Lewis, President and CEO of EMC Health Foundation. “As prices of life-saving insulin continue to soar, more and more people are left scrambling to afford it. Our goal with the $2 Charitable Insulin Relief Plan is to focus on needy individuals and families who are seeing inflation eat away at their paycheck and struggle with the rising gasoline prices and the increasing challenge to pay for food.” 

Lewis blames rising prescription drug co-payments and deductibles on health insurance companies.

“While health insurers are forcing families to pay more for their insulin, at the EMC Health Foundation we believe in helping, not hurting families,” he said.

TIN Rx founder and CEO Dr. Christina Garcia said she is honored to help create such an important program.

“Bringing together community solutions that save residents hard-earned dollars is one of the reasons why we created TIN Rx,” Garcia said. “Collaborating with EMC Health Foundation is an incredible opportunity to create real, sustainable change in the rural Central Valley. Together, we are focused on helping people afford their insulin.”