Foundation Assistance for Chronic or Life-Altering Diseases
How to find Foundation Assistance for patients
Foundation Assistance for Chronic or Life-Altering Diseases
Foundations offer financial assistance to those suffering from chronic or life-altering diseases when insurance is not enough to cover the treatment. Foundations help fill the gaps by assisting patients with their out-of-pocket expenses.
What is Foundation Assistance, and Who offers it?
Non-profit organizations like The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Healthwell Foundation, and the PAN Foundation, to list a few, provide financial assistance to patients in need. These foundations offer specific disease funds and award assistance to patients via grants. The grants awarded may cover copays, deductibles, insurance premiums, co-insurance and may help with travel or household expenses.
Who is eligible for Foundation Assistance?
Available funding is disease-specific – you must be diagnosed with the disease, be actively receiving treatment in the United States, have insurance covering the medication and therapy, and fall within a certain percentage of the Federal Poverty Level Guidelines (FPL). Unlike Manufacturer Copay Assistance Programs, Foundations allow applicants to have Federally Funded insurance like Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans.
If your practice/specialty pharmacy partners with ElevatePFS, we will enroll all qualified patients, maintain their enrollment, and manage the entire billing and collections process.
How to apply for Foundation Assistance?
Disease fund availability is dependent upon whether there is sufficient funding available. Funds open and close daily, making the application process more difficult than other financial assistance programs. If a fund is accepting applications, you should apply immediately.
Step 1: Gather Information for the application.
- Demographics (including Social Security Number)
- Diagnosis
- Estimated household financial income
- Insurance information
- Pharmacy contact information
- Treating physician contact information
Step 2:
- Apply online or over the phone.
Our Qualify Philanthropic solution can manage the whole process from enrolling patients as soon as a fund opens and helping them manage their financial paperwork to ensure all claims are submitted and reimbursed promptly.
How much financial assistance can I receive, and how is it paid out?
The award levels range from $100 to over $10,000 per applicant, depending on the fund. The full grant amount is allocated over one year and reimburses for services and treatments rendered during this period via the fund’s reimbursement process.
Keeping your grant active
Foundations want to ensure that grants are being used by those actively receiving treatment and in need of financial assistance. Many foundations require initial reimbursement requests to be submitted within a specific time frame and do not allow extended periods of inactivity, or the awardee could lose the grant completely. The time frames vary between 90-120 days.