AstraZeneca plans to expand its prescription drug savings plan

WILMINGTON, Del. A drug maker announced Thursday that it plans to expand its prescription drug savings plan.

Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said it would immediately give assistance through its AZ&Me program to qualifying patients who have recently lost jobs, had incomes reduced or experienced changes in marital status or family size. Before, patients would have difficulty applying for the program if they had a change in income or family size and their W-2 statements showed a non-qualifying income.

“AstraZeneca is committed to helping patients get the medicines they need,” AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals U.S. president Rich Fante said in a statement. “Our responsibility goes beyond developing medicines to also making them available to those who cannot afford them.”

The AZ&Me program provides free medicines to people without insurance who make up to $30,000 a year and to families of four making up to $60,000, as well as low-cost medicines to Medicare Part D beneficiaries and free medicines to non-profit healthcare facilities such as free clinics and community health centers.