The primary objective of this public education project is to develop and launch an online shopper's guide for prescription drugs that would enable consumers nationwide to save money on their prescription drugs without sacrificing quality or safety. Americans are facing a crisis in health care due to a convergence of factors including increasing drug expenditures, a large population of drug-uninsured people, increasing reliance on direct-to-consumer advertising, the proliferation of unreliable information, and burdensome out-of-pocket costs. In light of these challenges, trustworthy information will assist consumers in both locating affordable medicine and in some cases improving health outcomes. Key elements of the project are: development of fact sheets with specific techniques for saving money on prescription drugs without sacrificing quality or safety; development of interactive website components that provide individualized information (e.g. discount drug cards that best meet individuals' needs); and intensive outreach and training to help vulnerable individuals (and those who help them), including Medicare beneficiaries and the uninsured of any age, to put the tools to work to help make needed prescription drugs more affordable. Consumers Union is the non-profit publisher of Consumer Reports magazine, Consumer Reports on Health, and ConsumerReports.org, and has been in the business of providing reliable information about products and services since it was founded in 1936. Its mission is to test products, inform the public, and protect consumers. Consumers Union's Consumer WebWatch program has done pioneering work to improve the credibility of Internet sites. The Information System Grant would provide valuable support which would be leveraged to expand its impact. The project would become an integral part of Consumers Union's public education mission. This public education site will coordinate closely with subscription based health website under development by Consumers Union. The free new prescription drug website will link to the new subscription-based health website, Consumers Union's advocacy site and ConsumerReports.org and be coordinated with all parts of Consumers Union.
