Newsletters

Winter 2009 Newletter - CMAP Expands Across The State People in the Cenla Medication Access Program (CMAP) use words like “blessing” and “life-saving” to describe how it has changed their lives. CMAP was developed and funded almost eight years ago by The Rapides Foundation. Foundation President and CEO Joe Rosier says the program has served a total of 22,300 people across Central Louisiana since its inception. Currently, CMAP is helping more than 6,000 people get the free prescriptions they so desperately need to maintain their health.
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‘A Blessing’ For Some Residents Since its inception in 2001, the Cenla Medication Access Program (CMAP) has helped thousands of Central Louisiana residents get prescription medications for chronic medical conditions. To people like Connie and Mike Couvillon of Sicily Island, CMAP turned their lives around by providing the medicine, education and tools they need to keep their diabetes under control. The Couvillons were living in Marrero when Hurricane Katrina hit, so they relocated to Sicily Island to live with Connie’s mother. They already were having a tough time paying for their diabetic supplies and other medications. So when Connie’s new doctor told her about CMAP, their lives changed overnight.
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Journal Articles

 

The Effect of Medication Reviews in a Rural Community Pharmacy Assistance Program: The Cenla Medication Access Program INDIVIDUALS AGED 65 YEARS AND OLDER account for a little more than 12% of the US population, yet they consume nearly 25% to 35% of prescription medications. Major problems facing the elderly population and all individuals on prescription medications are noncompliance with theirmedication regimens and adverse drug reactions.3-5As a group, the elderly population experiences more adverse drug reactions than any other age group. On average, elderly persons in the United States are on 5 medications, and their risk for a drug-drug interaction can be as high as 50%. As many as a quarter of all hospital admissions in elderly persons are drug related.
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Quality of Life Research Use of the SF-8 to assess health-related quality of life for a chronically ill, low-income population participating in the Central Louisiana Medication Access Program (CMAP) Access to affordable medications is a major problem facing the millions of uninsured in the United States. This is especially true for individuals living in poor rural areas, such as the central part of Louisiana where at least 40% of the population has no prescription benefits [G. Becker, unpublished observation]. To help alleviate this need, the Central Louisiana Medication Access Program (CMAP) was created by The Rapides Foundation in Alexandria, LA to provide prescription medications for low income individuals with chronic illnesses.
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Outpatient medication assistance program in a rural setting Prescription drug expenditures in the United States increased by 16.4% during 2001 compared with 2000. This is a major problem for Americans who lack health care insurance. In 2001 alone there were 2.5 million more Americans without health insurance, bringing the total to 41.2 million (14.6% of the population). In the South, the uninsured rate is almost 20%.
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Press Releases

December 14, 2009
Free Medication Program Expands Statewide
ALEXANDRIA – A program that has been providing free prescriptions to eligible Central Louisiana residents since 2001 is now offered statewide.
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April 17, 2009
Roy wins state award for work with Cenla Medication Access Program
ALEXANDRIA – Wendy Roy, program director of The Rapides Foundation’s Cenla Medication Access Program, has won the Louisiana Legislative Women’s Caucus Foundation’s 2009 Women of Excellence Award in the health and medicine category.
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CMAP observes ‘Cover the Uninsured Week’ - April 28 thru May 2, 2008
A total of 23.8 percent of Central Louisiana residents between the ages of 18 and 64 have no insurance coverage for healthcare expenses. Nationwide, 47 million Americans are uninsured. More than eight out of 10 are in working families – all forced to gamble every day that they won't get sick or injured. Living without health insurance is a risk no one should have to take. 
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March 26, 2008
Cenla Medication Access Program (CMAP) enrolls in AZ&Me™ Prescription Savings program for healthcare facilities
Wilmington, DE – AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) today announced that it will provide free medication to the Cenla Medication Access Program (CMAP) in Alexandria, LA, under one of the company’s prescription savings programs. The AZ&Me™ Prescription Savings program for healthcare facilities provides medicines free of charge to community free clinics, community health centers and hospitals that serve the uninsured, supporting patients in one place where they can get the medical care and medicines they need. The program also supports central-fill pharmacies that distribute medicines to and for facilities without onsite pharmacies.
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March 18, 2008
PROGRAM OFFERS FREE PRESCRIPTION MEDICATIONS
Alexandria, LA – A program that provides free prescriptions to lower income, uninsured individuals under age 65 is expanding. CMAP gives people access to a wide range of free medications that are made available from donations from Abbot, Merck, Novartis, Tap and Astra Zeneca pharmaceutical corporations. CMAP offers a wide range of drugs that cover most therapeutic drug classes.
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March 10, 2008
CMAP Announces Wider Access to a Range of Free Prescription Medications Alexandria, LA --- CMAP, a nonprofit medication assistance program funded by The Rapides Foundation and Department of Health and Hospitals under the Bureau of Rural Health and Primary Care, are expanding the service area in which the program operates.  Now lower income uninsured individuals will have access to a wide range of free prescription medications available from donations of medicine from Abbott, Merck, Novartis, Tap and Astra Zeneca Pharmaceutical Corporations.
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January 30, 2008
Uninsured Louisianans Able to Access More Needed Medicines
Two recent studies authored by Harvard Medical School and the American Cancer Society reported strong associations between the lack of adequate health coverage and poor health. Though these findings aren’t surprising, they are especially troubling, given that the 2007 U.S. Census reported that there are 480,754 adults in Louisiana without health insurance. The good news is that this number dropped from 2005 but there is still work to be done.
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September 9, 2007
Cenla Medication Access Program (CMAP) Announces Wider Access to a Range of Free Prescription Medications
Alexandria, LA, Oct. 4--- Cenla Medication Access Program (CMAP), Central Louisiana’s nonprofit medication assistance program funded by The Rapides Foundation, announced today that Cenla’s low income uninsured will now have access to a wider range of free prescription medications, thanks to a donation of medicine from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation.
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