No Charge: Free Prescription Drugs, Wireless Service, TV and Even College Classes
June 17, 2010 — -- Who says you can't get anything for free? You can, if you know where to look. "Good Morning America" Consumer Correspondent Elisabeth Leamy appeared on the show today to tell you how to find a range of products -- from medication to credit monitoring to wireless phone service -- all for free.
Prescription drug costs are rising even as many people are out of work and losing their health care coverage, but big pharmaceutical companies give away more than $200 million in prescription medication each year to the uninsured.
The Partnership for Prescription Assistance works with pharmaceutical companies to provide free medicines to people with too much money to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford health insurance.
Rules on free prescriptions vary, but typically a person who makes less than $21,000 a year, or a family of four that lives on less than $44,000, would be eligible, Leamy said.
There's no time limit for program. As long as your budget remains tight, you'll continue to qualify. The paperwork is easy to fill out.
Click HERE to visit the Partnership for Prescription Assistance.
People are worried about identity theft, but it costs money to use a credit monitoring program, which can cost as much as $300 a year.
Consumers are entitled to three free credit reports per year -- one from each of the big credit bureaus. If you order one from Experian in January, another from Equifax in May and the other from TransUnion in September, you'll be checking up on your credit year round.
Credit reports may be free, but the all-important credit scores aren't free yet. There is serious talk in Congress about requiring that each American be given a free peek at their credit score once a year. We'll keep you posted.
Click HERE to visit AnnualCreditReport.com.
