Patient Assistance Programs
Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML) patients who are financially challenged can search for a Patient Assistance Program. Patient Assistance Programs (PAPs) are charity programs run by drug manufacturers reserved for patients with severe financial barriers to acquiring their medications. PAPs help fill a significant gap in the current health care coverage available to American patients. PAPs have been voluntarily offered for several years by many pharmaceutical companies and are not expected to terminate in the future, like Medicare. Approximately 150-200 PAPs are currently in operation, offering roughly 850-1000 drugs to eligible patients.
Advocacy & Guidance
American Cancer Society, www.cancer.org
National Home Office, ACS, Inc., 1599 Clifton Rd., NE, Atlanta, GA (30329-4251,
(404) 320-222
California Division, Inc., 1710 Webster St., Oakland, CA (510) 893-7900
Eastern Divisions, Inc., (LI, NJ, NYC, NYS, Queens, Westchester) 6725 Lyons
St., East Syracuse, NY 13057, (315) 437-7025
Florida Division, Inc., (including Puerto Rico) 3709 W. Jetton Ave., Tampa,
FL 33629-5146; Puerto Rico, Calle Alverio #577, Esquina Sargento Medina Hato
Rey, PR 00918; (787) 764-2295
Great Lakes Division, Inc., (MI, IN) 1755 Abbey Road, East Lansing, MI 48823-1907,
(517) 332-2222
Great West Division, Inc., (AK, AZ, CO, ID, MT, ND, NM, NV, OR UT,WA, WY) 2120
First Ave., N., Seattle, WA 98109-1140, (206) 283-1152
Heartland Division, Inc., (KS, MO, NE, OK) 1100 Pennsylvania Ave., Kansas City, MO 64105; (816) 842-7111
Illinois Division, Inc., 77 E. Monroe St., Chicago, IL 60603-5795, (312) 641-6150
Mid-South Division, Inc., (AL, AR, KY, LA, MS, TN) 1100 Ireland Way, Ste. 300, Birmingham, AL 35205-7014, (205) 930-8860
Midwest Division, Inc., (IA, MN, SD, WI) 8364 Hickman Rd., Ste. D., Des Moines, IA 50325, (515) 253-0147
New England Division, Inc., (CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, VT) 30 Speen St., Framingham, MA 01701-1800, (508) 270-4600
Ohio Division, Inc., 5555 Frantz Rd., Dublin, OH 43017, (614) 889-9565
Pennsylvania Division, Inc., Route 422 and Sipe Ave., Hershey, PA 17033-0897, (717) 533-6144
South Atlantic Division, Inc., (DC, DE, GA, MD, NC, SC, VA, WV) 2200 Lake Blvd., Atlanta, GA 30319, (404) 816-7800
Texas Division, Inc., (including Hawaii Pacific operations) 2433 Ridgepoint Dr., Austin, TX 78754, (512) 919-1800; Hawaii Pacific, Inc., 2370 Nuuana Ave., Honolulu, HI 96817, (808) 595-750
Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation, Inc. is an organization for awareness, advocacy, educational information, donations and clinical trials; PO Box 613 , Annapolis, MD 21404, (800) 747-2820; www.aplastic.org
Association of Community Cancer Centers, database of hospitals, physician and patient advocacy organizations; www.accc-cancer.org
HelpingPatients is a diverse database which includes health, social, service and charitable organizations for low income patients and families. www.HelpingPatients.org
National Coalition on Health Care, a non-profit organization to improve America’s health care; 1200 G Street, NW Ste. 750, Washington, DC 2005, (202) 638-7151, www.nchc.org
National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, resources for homeless veterans, 333 ½ Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, Washington, DX (800) VET-HELP; www.nchv.org
NexCura / NexProfiler Tool for Cancer is an interactive decision-support tool to help patients and their doctor make informed decisions about their care; www.nexcura.com
The Patient Advocate Foundation, 700 Thimble Shoals Blvd, Ste. 200, Newport News, VA 23606; Phone, (800) 532-5274, www.patientadvocate.org
Association of Community Cancer Centers provides a database of hospitals,
physicians and patient advocacy organizations.
www.accc-cancer.org
Bone Marrow Donor Information
Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches, 231 E. Third St., Ste. G107, Los Angeles, CA 90013, (888) 236-4673, www.asianmarrow.org
Caitlin Raymond International Registry (specializes in unrelated donors), U Mass Memorial Medical Center, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655, (800) 726-2824, www.crir.org
HLA Registry Foundation, Inc., 70 Grand Avenue, Ste. 103, River Edge, NJ, 07661, (888) HLA-DONOR or (201) 487-0883, www.hlaregistry.org
National Marrow Donor Program, (NMDP), 3001 Broadway, NE, Ste. 500, Minneapolis, MN 55413, (800) MARROW-2 or (800) 526-7809; www.marrow.org
Orchid Diagnostics (formerly GeneScreen), 550 West Avenue, Stamford, CT 06902, (800) 543-3263; www.bonemarrowtest.com
Bone Marrow/Stem Cell Transplant Information and Support
Autologous Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry (ABMTR), IBMTR/ABMTR Statistical Center, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, P.O. Box 26509, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, (414) 456-8325, www.ibmtr.org
Bone and Marrow Transplant Information Network, 2900 Skokie Valley Rd., Ste. B, Highland Park, IL 60035, (888) 597-7674
National Bone Marrow Transplant Link, 20411 W. 12 Mile Road., #108, southfield, MI 48076, 800-LINK-BMT (800) 546-5268; www.nbmtlink.org
The Bone Marrow Foundation, 337 E. 88th St., Ste. 1B, New York, NY, 10128, (800) 365-1336; www.bonemarrow.org
Oncology Nursing Society, 125 Enterprise Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15275, (412) 859-6100, www.ons.org
Caregivers
Family Caregivers Alliance, 690 Market Street, #600, San Francisco, CA 94104, (415) 434-3388, www.caregiver.org
National Alliance for Caregiving, 4720 Montgomery Lane, 5th Floor, Bethesda, MD 20814, (301) 718-8444, www.caregiving.org
National Family Caregivers Association, 10400 Connecticut Ave., #500, Kensington, MD 20895, *800) 896-3650, www.nfcacares.org
National Organization for Empowering Caregivers, 425 W. 23rd Street, #9B, New York, NY 10011, www.nofec.org
Fundraising
Leukemia Research Foundation solicits contributions from individuals and corporations as well as sponsor fundraising events to provide financial assistance to leukemia patients living anywhere in Illinois or within 100 miles of Chicago (parts of WI, MI and IN); 2700 Patriot Blvd, Ste 100, Glenview, IL 60026-8021; (847) 424-0600; info@lrfmail.org (email); www.leukemia-research.org
My Friends Care Bone Marrow Transplant Fund – Provides expertise and
support for Michigan residents to raise funds for bone marrow transplants,
for bone marrow donor recruitment, and for bone marrow searches;for Michigan
residents; 148 South Main Street, Ste. 101 Mount Clemens, MI 48043; (586)
783-7390; www.myfriendscare.org
National Foundation for Transplants - Campaigns and solicits corporations, communities and individuals for donations to assist patients with transplant costs not covered by insurance; 1102 Brookfield, Ste. 200, Memphis, TN 38119 (800)489-3863; www.transplants.org
Insurance Issues & Resolution
Cancer Legal Resource Center is sponsored by the Loyola Law School of Los Angeles and provides information and educational programs on cancer-related issues as well as assistance to those seeking help with insurance issues or legal information; 919 S. Albany St., Los Angeles, CA 90015 (213) 736-1455; www.lls.edu/community/clrc.htm
Health Insurance Association of America, 1201 F St., NW, Ste. 500, Washington, DC 20004, (202) 824-1600; www.hiaa.org
Kaiser Family Foundation, consumer guide to assistance provided for disputes with your health care insurance provider, www.kff.org
Lodging
Hope Lodge created by the American Cancer Society is a free temporary residential facility for patients who meet eligibility requirements. Hope Lodge provides private rooms, kitchen facilities and transportation to and from treatment. Patients must live more than 50 miles from the medical facility, be able to care for themselves, and receive outpatient treatment for three days or longer. Limited to one room per family and you must have physician approval. Locations nationwide are Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Vermont. (800) ACS-2345.
National Association of Hospital Hospitality Houses, Inc. provides links to hospital hospitality guest houses nationwide for patients and families. PO. Box 18087, Asheville, NC 28814, (800)542-9730, www.nahhh.org
Prescription Drugs
There are many resources and organizations that can provide financial assistance
to help cover the cost of prescription drugs. Some of the programs are income-based
programs, sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, and some are “fee for
service programs”.
Bridges to Access, GlaxoSmithKline foundation provides low-income patients
with no prescription drug coverage. B to A, PO Box 29038, Phoenix, AZ 85038-9038,
http://bridgetoaccessgsk.com
Eli Lilly & Company has direct patient assistance, initiatives and advocacy organizations, (800) 545-5979
NeedyMeds is a non-profit, web-based organization similar to a yellow pages. They provide resource information on hundreds of prescription assistance and state and local programs. www.needymeds.com
Partnership for Prescription Assistance compiles a collection of 275 public and private patient assistance programs, offered by pharmaceutical companies for patients with no prescription coverage. Access to public or private programs, (888)477 2669, www.pparx.org
Patient Advocate Foundation Co-Pay Relief provides financial assistance to insured patients, including Medicare beneficiaries, to assist with out-of-pocket co-payments. (866) 512-3861. Application process and approval takes 5 to 7 working days. As funding becomes available CPR will expand its program to include additional diagnoses. www.patientadvocate.org
PhRMA provides links to pharmaceutical manufacturers that participate in PAP. www.PhRMA.com
Pfizer, philanthropy foundation “Sharing the Care” provides medication to community based migrant or homeless health centers funded under section 330e, or 330h; www.pfizer.com/subsites/philanthrophy
RxHope, the heart of the pharmaceutical industry, allows one to search for government and corporate sponsored programs as well as health care links. www.rxhope.com
The Medicine Program, PO Box 515, Doniphan, MO 63935 (573) 996-7399; www.themedicineprogram.com
Travel Resources
Air Care Alliance, 1515 E. 71st St., Ste. 312, Tulsa, OK 74136, (888) 260-9707, www.aircareall.org
AirLifeLine, 50 Fullerton Court, Ste. 200, Sacramento, CA 95825, (877) AIRLIFE, www.airlifeline.org
Angel Flight America, over 1,500 private pilots donate time, aircraft and fuel free of charge for ambulatory patients who cannot afford the costs of travel to medical facilities. Must meet qualification requirements. (800) 446-1231.
Corporate Angel Network, Westchester County Airport, One Loop Road, White Plains, NY 10604, (866) 328-1313; www.copangelnetwork.org
National Patient Travel Center administered by Mercy Medical Airlift, a national charity transportation and hospitality service for those who must travel long distances for medical treatment. Free or discounted rate. (800)296-1217; www.cancerpatienttravel.com