We are halfway through the year and the FDA has already approved a number of novel cancer treatments. Yervoy was the first advanced melanoma therapy to be approved in over 13 years, Zytiga the first oral medication approved for advanced forms of prostate cancer, and Zactima the first oral medication approved for the treatment of a rare form of thyroid cancer. These approvals expand the treatment options for many cancer patients with few previous alternatives. Although this represents significant advancements, it does come at a significant cost. Some of these therapies, for example, can cost over $5,000 a month, requiring many patients to seek financial assistance from manufacturer programs and / or foundations.
Navigating the financial assistance landscape can be difficult. Luckily, there are great resources available that can help every patient pay for therapy. Below are some useful resources that can be used to help reduce your copays and treatment costs.
The Chronic Disease Fund
The Chronic Disease Fund offers assistance for cancers of the prostate, liver, lung, pancreas, thyroid, colon and breast. You can enroll into their disease funds online and they will work most pharmacies to help reduce a patient's drug copay throughout the year. They are often the preferred foundation for many specialty pharmacies and oncology practices given their extent of fund availability and fundraising capabilities.
The Healthwell Foundation
The Healthwell Foundation also represents a significant source of funding for cancer patients. Their disease funds include common cancers as well as more rare tumors such as chronic myeloid leukemia, cuteneous T cell lymphoma, and metastatic melanoma. Given their volume of funding requests, their colorectal, breast, brain, and lung cancer funds are currently closed until more donations are provided.
The Patient Advocate Foundation
The Patient Advocate Foundation offers copay relief for many common and rare cancers. They also provide many links to important web resources to help patients with therapy education, clinical trials information and management of symptoms. They also work with many other foundations to help patients find assistance in cases when their disease funds are closed or unavailable.
The Assistance Fund
The Assistance Fund provides copay assistance for more common cancers such as breast, colon and lung. In addition to providing financial assistance for drug copays, they also assist patients with costs associated with their insurance deductibles. Further, they help patients remain on therapy through their extensive compliance and adherence programs.
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