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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, May 25, 2003

State may overlap drug aid nonprofit

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Health Writer

A nonprofit group that helps uninsured people obtain free or discounted prescription drugs is critical of a new state program that has the same goal.

Officials of Hawai'i MEDS Inc., the nonprofit, say they are disappointed that the state program — Hawai'i Prescription Care — has decided not to join forces with them.

"We're flabbergasted why they have chosen to not work with us," said Mike Jordan, a volunteer with Hawai'i MEDS, an acronym for Medicinal Economics and Distributive Services.

But the executive director of the state program, which was initiated by Gov. Linda Lingle, said there's room for both programs. Sharon Hicks said Hawai'i Prescription Care will operate in a way that will let it reach more people.

Both programs connect needy people with programs run by pharmaceutical companies to provide free or low-cost medicines to people who cannot afford prescription drugs.

The state program will begin July 1. Using a $3 million grant from the Weinberg Foundation, it intends to help 20,000 people the first year at state-run hospitals and Hawai'i Primary Care Association clinics.

Hawai'i MEDS began helping people last fall. Volunteers give presentations at hospitals, retirement homes and social service agencies to explain how people can apply to receive medicines. Jordan said the program has helped more than 500 people.

The program was founded by retired businessman Charles Malm, 55, and his physician, Dr. George Seberg, who provided the initial $20,000 to get the program running. Malm said he has emphysema and found out about the high cost of prescription medicine when he struggled to pay for some drugs he needed.

"Chuck has people calling him on a daily basis from around the state," Jordan said. "He's going to keep operating until there is no money or he dies."

People can reach the organization at hawaiimeds.org or 377-1975.

Malm and Jordan said Hicks at one point had agreed to work with them and talked about providing $150,000 in support, but later backed out. Hicks said she considered working with Malm's organization, but decided against going in with the small-scale operation. "The way they're doing their work is incompatible with ours," she said.

Hicks said she plans to model the state program after Medbank of Maryland. "They've been up and running for about three years," Hicks said. She said it is estimated that the program has served 20,000 people a year.

She said she prefers the Maryland model because it is a more sophisticated system that can reach out more efficiently to more people.

Jordan said he's puzzled that a Republican administration doesn't want to embrace a private-sector initiative working to help with a problem. But Hicks said she is trying not to spread her program's resources too thin.