A pharmaceutical brand can have a generous copay assistance program, a dedicated savings website, and plenty of resources to help patients afford their medications. But what happens when a patient leaves the doctor's office without knowing that any of those resources exist?
It's a disconnect worth examining. Pharmaceutical manufacturers invest billions in programs designed to reduce out-of-pocket costs, yet making assistance available doesn't guarantee it will reach the patients who could benefit.
For pharma marketers, that raises an important question: Could improving how copay assistance is delivered be just as valuable as the assistance itself?
Billions in Copay Assistance, but How Much Is Being Used?
The pharmaceutical industry's investment in affordability is substantial. According to IQVIA research, manufacturer copay cards and related debit card programs reduced patient cost by $21.4 billion in 2024.
When these programs are used, the financial impact for patients can be significant. A 2026 study published in JAMA found that, among prescriptions using manufacturer-sponsored coupons in 2024, median patient out-of-pocket costs were $105 before assistance and just $10 afterward.
But the same research also identified a notable trend: among more than 3.2 million commercially insured patients filling brand-name prescriptions without generic competition, only 13.9% used a manufacturer-sponsored coupon in 2024, down from 18% in 2017.
That doesn't necessarily mean the remaining patients missed out on available savings. Not every patient needs assistance, and eligibility, coverage, and program availability vary considerably across therapies.
Still, the contrast raises an interesting question. If copay assistance can make such a meaningful difference in prescription costs, what prevents more patients who need it from accessing that support?
Why Copay Assistance Can Be Difficult to Access
Part of the challenge is awareness.
In a 2025 national survey conducted for the PAN Foundation, 48% of patients reported that their healthcare providers had not discussed any programs that could lower their treatment costs. Only 23% reported discussions about copay savings or prescription discount programs specifically.
These findings cover financial assistance programs more broadly, but they highlight a challenge that is equally relevant to manufacturer-sponsored copay assistance: information can't help patients if it never enters the conversation.
Consider the typical path to accessing a savings program. A patient may need to know the program exists, locate the appropriate website, determine eligibility, enroll or activate an offer, and present the necessary information at the pharmacy. Alternatively, the physician or office staff must know where to find that assistance and how to share it.
Each step creates another opportunity for information to be missed.
And timing complicates things further. Patients may not know what their medication will cost until they reach the pharmacy. Physicians may be unaware that a patient has financial concerns or that a brand offers assistance. Even when both parties recognize a potential affordability issue, finding the right resources can require time they don't have.
The problem isn't necessarily a lack of support. It's that support may be disconnected from the decisions and workflows where it could be most useful.
From Copay Assistance Availability to Activation
For pharmaceutical brands, improving utilization requires thinking beyond program design and promotion. Traditional approaches to copay assistance often rely on making resources available through brand websites, patient support hubs, field representatives, or pharmacy programs. These channels remain valuable, particularly for patients actively seeking help.
But they also depend on someone knowing to look for assistance in the first place. A more proactive approach brings copay information into the treatment decision itself, making relevant support visible without requiring a separate search.
The point of prescribing is an important opportunity to make that connection.
When a healthcare provider is considering or preparing to prescribe a medication, affordability information can help address practical questions about whether an eligible patient can access treatment. Presenting relevant copay support within the electronic prescribing workflow reduces the need to leave the task at hand to find savings resources. Ideally, that information can also accompany the prescription to the pharmacy, where it may help address cost concerns before they lead to an unfilled prescription.
The distinction is important. Instead of relying exclusively on patients and providers to discover copay assistance, brands can make appropriate resources easier to encounter and use during the prescribing process.
That isn't a replacement for comprehensive patient support, nor does it resolve every insurance or affordability challenge. But it can remove some of the unnecessary steps between an existing savings offer and the people who may benefit from it.
Measuring the Value of Copay Assistance Beyond Enrollment
Making assistance more accessible also creates an opportunity to reconsider how brands evaluate their programs.
Enrollment and redemption are important measures, but they don't tell the entire story. Brands should also consider how effectively their affordability programs connect with prescribing activity and patient needs.
For example, useful questions include:
- How many relevant prescribers encounter copay assistance information during the prescribing process?
- Are eligible patients successfully accessing available savings, or are additional steps preventing activation?
- How does timely affordability messaging influence new prescriptions, first fills, and prescription abandonment?
- Which activation channels generate the greatest engagement and measurable treatment starts?
These questions shift attention from simply distributing savings offers toward understanding their effectiveness throughout the treatment journey.
Importantly, increasing copay accessibility isn't necessarily the goal in every situation. The objective is to help ensure that eligible patients who face meaningful cost barriers can access the right resources when those resources can make a difference.
For brand teams, that means viewing copay assistance as an actively managed part of both the marketing and patient access strategy, supported by relevant engagement and outcome measures.
Making More of the Assistance Brands Already Offer
Pharmaceutical manufacturers have already demonstrated their willingness to invest in patient affordability. The next opportunity is to make those investments work more effectively by connecting available resources with moments of demonstrated need.
Solutions such as OptimizeRx's CopayCue™ reflect this approach. Using real-time prescribing-intent signals, CopayCue brings brand-specific savings information directly into the e-prescribing workflow and includes the offer information with the prescription sent to the pharmacy.
It's one example of how existing copay assistance programs can become more accessible without asking providers or patients to take additional steps to discover them.
Because the value of a copay assistance program shouldn't be measured only by how much a brand is willing to offer. It should also be measured by how effectively that assistance reaches the eligible patients who need it.
