Out of work and suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure, Terrance Taylor faces a host of tough choices. But there is one that he finds easy.

"If I have to choose between food, transportation, and job-hunting expenses, I choose my medicines," the 54-year-old Philadelphia resident said.

Skipping his medication leaves him out of breath, his heart beating strangely.

When Taylor lost his job in Florida a few months ago, he lost his health insurance, too, and some of his medicines cost a lot: $130 a month for Cozaar, a high-blood-pressure medicine made by Merck & Co. Inc.

After filling out a form at a sign-up event Merck sponsored last week at the Maria de los Santos Health Center on West Allegheny Avenue, Taylor was on his way to getting Cozaar free.

Like most pharmaceutical companies, Merck has a prescription-assistance program that gives away drugs to those who have no insurance or whose policies leave them with high drug costs.

The recession and the debate over health care have prompted many pharmaceutical companies to relax program restrictions.

Pfizer Inc. and AstraZeneca P.L.C., for example, recently allowed newly unemployed people to sign up, regardless of how much their W-2s say they have earned, if they can provide proof that they are out of work.

Some companies have expanded income limits.

Earlier this year, Merck increased the income maximum for program participants from 200 percent of the federal poverty level to 400 percent. That's as much as $43,320 yearly for individuals, $58,280 for couples, and $88,200 for a family of four.

"This is part of our overall corporate philosophy to make our medicines available to every patient," said Patrick Davish, executive vice president for the Merck Patient Assistance Program.

To reduce paperwork, Merck no longer requires tax returns or other forms of income verification, though the company says it reserves the right to check.

Many companies have shortened the forms that applicants must fill out to enroll in the programs - Merck's is just one page. Bureaucracy remains a challenge, however, because some patients need drugs from several companies and must fill out a form for each.

"It's an intense process. Each company is a little different. At this point, we have 10 volunteers who do nothing but work on all of these applications," said Maureen Tomoschuk, president of Community Volunteers in Medicine, which provides free medical and dental care to the uninsured in Chester County.

Even so, Tomoschuk said, she is "extremely grateful that such programs exist." Her organization has used them to bring in $850,000 in donated drugs this year.

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance (www.pparx.org), an industry-sponsored group, says it has helped 5.5 million people in the last four years find programs that help the uninsured or underinsured obtain free drugs.

It is difficult to determine whether the recession has led to more enrollments, because some participants leave programs if their drugs become available in cheaper, generic form.

Steve Findlay, senior health-policy analyst at Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports, said prescription-assistance programs help many, but he urged patients to consider alternatives. Most programs cover only brand-name drugs, even if a generic version is available for just a few dollars a month.

Taylor gets one of the generic drugs he needs at Walmart for $4 a month, but a generic version of Cozaar will not be available until next year.

He is looking for work.

"I'll take anything, anything," he said. His last job was in customer service for a phone company.

In the meantime, he is happy to have some assistance.

"I am unemployed. I have nothing," Taylor said. "Anything that provides help is something. It's hope."

Contact staff writer Miriam Hill

at 215-854-5520 or hillmb@phillynews.com.