Editor’s Note: For far too many patients with chronic or complex conditions, medical challenges are compounded by financial ones. By helping patients find assistance for their medications, financial navigators play a critical role in boosting treatment affordability, access, and outcomes. In the second installment of our “Patient Stories” series, we share how a member of our TailorMed Complete team secured vital funding for patient with bladder cancer:
Financial navigator: Shan Yang
Diagnosis: Bladder cancer
Type of healthcare organization: Cancer center
Medication: Lupron
Assistance program: PAN Foundation grant
Costs covered: $7,000 grant per year
Patient financial responsibility without assistance: $500-660 per treatment before meeting the deductible
Patient financial responsibility with assistance: $0 – PAN Foundation grant will cover the patient’s full copay
A TailorMed financial navigator worked with a Medicare patient who had been diagnosed with bladder cancer. The patient was prescribed Lupron, an injectable medication. Typically used to treat advanced prostate cancer, Lupron works by lowering the amount of testosterone in the body; this helps slow or stop cancer cell growth and helps relieve symptoms such as painful or difficult urination.
Our navigator called the patient and spoke to his wife, who is his primary caregiver. Since her husband had a high out-of-pocket cost for his Lupron injections, she said financial assistance would make a tremendous difference. She explained that her husband had been on the waiting list for a foundation grant for several months.
Our navigator worked with the PAN Foundation to get the patient off the waiting list, and he was ultimately awarded a grant. The $7,000 grant will cover the patient’s full copay for his Lupron treatments for the year.
This assistance is a huge relief not only to the patient, but to his family. Shortly after receiving the news, the patient’s wife left a voice message for our navigator to express her gratitude. “It’s just wonderful,” she said, referring to the PAN Foundation grant. “We feel really blessed.”
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Interested in partnering with our TailorMed Complete team to optimize financial assistance and reach more patients? Contact us to learn more.
