Asking for Financial Assistance Opportunities
If you find you are uninsured or underinsured and cannot meet your financial obligation for paying medical bills or paying for prescription drugs, you may have options.
Opportunities for Assistance
- Find out what your prescriptions are and if any biosimilars may be less expensive than brand-name drugs.
- Know your insurance.
- Where are you getting treatment? Are the facility and the doctor in-network for your insurance?
- What kind of assistance can the hospital give you to pay for your treatment, such as hospital charity care, or an arranged payment program?
- Make sure your providers are in-network, and if not, see if you can get an exception from your insurance company in writing before getting the treatment or prescription.
- Check with the pharmaceutical company to see if they have Patient Assistance Programs for that particular drug.
- Depending on the cancer you have, check for co-pay, co-insurance, deductible, and premium financial assistance through non-profit organizations.
- Other financial assistance can include help for travel costs or lodging associated with medical treatment.
- Understanding and finding financial resources for clinical trials: Refer to your insurance for coverage of clinical trials.
- Medical supplies and vehicle modification
- Local and State Financial Assistance: There are financial resources that may be available to you based on your financial circumstances. Please refer to these links to find the resources and the criteria for applying:
Tips When Requesting Financial Assistance
Keep a list of pharmaceutical companies and/or nonprofit organizations where you have requested financial assistance. A binder can help you keep this organized and in one place.
Keep a record of:
- Name or organization
- Phone number
- Address
- Date your assistance starts and ends
- Amount of grant or assistance
- What medication or insurance co-pay or deductible it covers
- Requirements to keep assistance/grants in force
Keep a good record of who you spoke with as well as the time and date of the call.
Keep notes about the purpose of the call. If they make promises of assistance, ask that a copy of that promise be sent to you immediately either through email or a hard copy.
See More from the Financial Resource Guide
Resources:
Diahanna Vallentine, BCPA, Financial Empowerment Lead
In 2002 Diahanna and her husband received the news that her husband had MGUS, a precursor to Multiple Myeloma. Upon her husband death in 2013, Diahanna immediately decided to make it her mission to help patients and caregivers empower themselves to speak up and to position themselves as partners in their treatment. Diahanna became a Board-Certified Patient Advocate. She is currently the Financial Myeloma Coach for The Myeloma Crowd Foundation.
