Dealing with a diagnosis of cancer is enormously stressful for patients and their loved ones, and the cost of life-saving therapies can be crushing. As a result, patients often find themselves in serious financial difficulty, but help is available in the form of financial assistance programs for many patients, regardless of their health insurance status.
The assistance may take the form of discounts on cancer drugs from the pharmaceutical companies. In addition, many nonprofit foundations and advocacy organizations also aid patients with cancer. It is also important to know that in addition to help paying for the direct costs of treatment, the help can extend to assistance with the indirect costs of being treated for cancer, such as the cost of travel to the doctor’s office or the hotel stay during treatment.
The key upshot of this help is that it allows patients to focus on achieving wellness without the extra anxiety of covering all the direct and indirect costs of treatment.
Although some cancer treatment centers have staff to assist patients in navigating these support programs, not all do, so the updated 2023 Patient Guide to Cancer Support Services provides important information to help you find the financial assistance available to you right now. This Guide, brought to you by CONQUER magazine, will help you find out what type of financial help exists and how to go about getting it. Eligibility can vary based on whether you have health insurance. Thus, if you don’t have health insurance, you may be able to receive the cancer treatment for free. If you do have insurance coverage, help may take the form of paying your copay, coinsurance, or deductible. But the first step is to use the contact information contained in the Guide!
You will see that the Guide is organized by cancer type, and it lists all the drugs prescribed for each type of cancer. Simply go directly to the section that applies to you to find your specific therapies and the financial assistance programs available for your treatment. Each section in this Guide lists the financial assistance programs available for each drug and how to contact that program to get the help you need.
Look for the drug or drugs that you are now using to see what help is available and contact the relevant programs to explore the types of available help. Your doctor may need to fill out some forms as well, so don’t hesitate to ask for help with the forms.
Check with your cancer center or clinic to see if financial counselors and nurse navigators can help you find the right financial support program and help with the necessary paperwork. If your center does not have up-to-date information, show them this Guide and ask for help in applying for financial assistance.
Become familiar with this Guide so you can get the treatment you need to achieve the best result possible. Bring this Guide to your next appointment and ask for help in applying for financial assistance.
This Guide was created to help lessen the heavy financial burdens of your cancer care, so that you can get the treatment you need with one less thing to worry about.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This Guide is based on information posted online by the respective drug companies as of December 10, 2022. Every effort has been made to verify that the information is up to date. Any updates, including new indications or drugs approved after that date, will not appear in this publication. The Publisher and the Editors are not responsible for any inaccuracies stemming from such changes or changes to the support services subsequently made. Readers are advised to review the information online, using the web address provided for each drug for any updates and revisions.