FARMINGTON — A $125,000 grant has been awarded by Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation to a Franklin County program that has been working to
improve access to health care and medications for uninsured and underinsured
residents.

In 2007, Healthy Community Coalition and Franklin Health Access created a
new program called Franklin Health Access-Rx that focused on improving
access to medications. The $125,000 grant will mean the number of uninsured
individuals who have access to free and low-cost medications can be
increased, according to an announcement Thursday.

"Thanks to the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation, our community
will become one of the most advanced in the country in how we order
prescriptions. Almost every provider and all of our local pharmacies will
use electronic prescribing, which reduces errors and improves safety for all
patients," said Leah Binder, vice-president of Franklin Community Health
Network.

The prescription assistance program was first launched when Franklin Health
Access found many patients were not filling their prescriptions due to cost
or were reducing their prescribed dosage to make their medications last
longer, according to Binder.

The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation works with partnerships
with nonprofit organizations to support programs that decrease the number of
uninsured, improve access to care, reduce healthcare disparities, promote
healthy lifestyles, advance health-related public policy and establish best
practices in medicine and/or business management.

For information, call the Healthy Community Coalition at 645-3136.