Category: financial help for cancer patients

Breast Cancer Charities of America – Help Now Fund

The Breast Cancer Charities of America – Help Now Fund is a program for current breast cancer patients, providing financial assistance for living expenses.  Grants range in values of up to $1,000 based on the availability of funds AND needs of the applicant.

This foundation is committed to helping as many people as possible through their cancer related financial struggles with their Help Now Fund.
The Help Now Fund assists with:

  • rent or mortgage payments
  • utility bills (electricity, water, and/or gas)
  • cell phone bills
  • car payments.

***The Help Now Fund does not assist with transportation costs, food assistance, and cable/internet bills.

**Join our FREE private Breast Cancer Financial Help and Resources – Cancer Butterfly Facebook Group to ask questions, share info, and get in the info sharing first hand 🙂

Click the compass below to check out all of our other FREE resources:

 

 

Breast Cancer Solutions Foundation

This foundation was created in 1998 to eliminate barriers to breast cancer treatment for patients experiencing financial hardship.  Provides temporary financial assistance to eligible patients who are experiencing financial hardship as result of their treatment.A community with full access to breast cancer treatment.  This foundation wishes to provide breast cancer patients with direct assistance, community referrals, and compassionate support.

Breast Cancer Solutions provides clients with the following services to protect access to breast cancer treatment:

  • Temporary financial assistance to ensure stable housing, transportation, adequate nutrition and the ability to pay for out of pocket medical expenses during treatment
  • Community-based patient navigation to other resources that provide further types of breast cancer support services
  • A one-stop resource for patients to receive compassionate support and mental health assessment and support

**Join our FREE private Breast Cancer Financial Help and Resources – Cancer Butterfly Facebook Group to ask questions, share info, and get in the info sharing first hand 🙂

Click the compass below to check out all of our other FREE resources:

 

 

 

Do you understand how cancer grants work?

You could be missing out on a lot of financial help if you don’t fully understand how cancer financial grants work.

There are retro rules for each grant, “back door” ways to get approved even if they say the funding is closed for the specific grant you are needing to apply to, and different names for the drugs you may be receiving (grants may be listed under the brand name OR the generic name)  …….

**Chemotherapy and drug co-payment assistance grants have specific time deadlines and depending on the Foundation program may only go retro for 30-180 days (some go a year retro) from your “approved” date, so it is VERY important to apply for these right away. 

Make sure you fully understand how the grants work BEFORE applying for any grants!

Check out our…….

Chemotherapy and Drug Grant Overview Page to understand the entire process

**Join our FREE private Breast Cancer Financial Help and Resources – Cancer Butterfly Facebook Group to ask questions, share info, and get in the info sharing first hand 🙂

Click the compass below to check out all of our other FREE resources:

 

Dial 2-1-1 for Local Resources & Assistance

Here is another great resource!  Dial 2-1-1 A free confidential service that offers information and support across North America and many parts of Canada!

2-1-1 is a free confidential referral and information helpline and website that offers help relating to financial, domestic, health, or disaster related issues.

2-1-1 can be reached either via phone or computer.  Help is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

They offer information and support relating to:

  • supplemental food and nutrition programs
  • shelter and housing options and utilities assistance
  • emergency information and disaster relief
  • employment and education opportunities
  • services for veterans
  • health care, vaccination and health epidemic information
  • addiction prevention and rehabilitation programs
  • reentry help for ex-offenders
  • support groups for individuals with mental illnesses or special needs
  • a safe, confidential path out of physical and/or emotional domestic abuse

Thousands of people call or visit 2-1-1 everyday seeking resources and assistance.

Call 2-1-1 and speak with a live, highly trained service professional in your area from any cell phone or landline. All calls are private and confidential.

**Join our FREE private Breast Cancer Financial Help and Resources – Cancer Butterfly Facebook Group to ask questions, share info, and get in the info sharing first hand 🙂

**Looking to save $$$ on your out of pocket cancer treatment medical costs ???  Click here to check out our FREE complete Cancer Butterfly Foundation Grant List 

Click the compass below to check out all of our other FREE resources:

 

New Grant Foundations for spring!

Happy Spring time!  We have run across some new grant Foundations that may be helpful to you!  The Foundations are not new, we just newly became aware of them.  So we wanted to be sure to pass on the information on these Foundations right away…..

Everything from Foundations that offer non-medical cost-of-living help, transportation, home care and child care costs.  Grants for help with outstanding medical bills, mortgage payments, tuition assistance and providing financial assistance for vacations!

My motto is apply for any that you may qualify for …..the worst they can say is “no” 🙂

***Here is the list of Foundations that have been newly added to our Cancer Butterfly Foundation List (go down the list and start applying today!):

The Pink Fund  A non-profit breast cancer organization that provides 90-day non-medical cost-of-living to breast cancer patients in active treatment for breast cancer, so they can focus on healing, raising their families, and returning to the workplace.

Apply thru website:  https://www.pinkfund.org/

The Pink Fund

P.O. Box 603

Bloomfield Hills, MI  48303

By Phone:  877.234.PINK (7465)

The Pink Fund partners with The Mary Herczog Fund for Metastatic Breast Cancer Survivors  The Mary Herczog Fund for Metastatic Breast Cancer Survivors was launched in her honor to provide six months of financial support to women in treatment for metastatic breast cancer. Metastatic survivors diagnosed under 40, as was Mary, and awaiting Social Security Disability, may qualify under The Pink Fund’s guidelines. Check back to our site on March 31, 2018 for the official launch, including details on qualifications and applications.

Apply thru website:  https://www.pinkfund.org/2018/03/26/partners-address-metastatic-breast-cancer-community/

The Pink Fund / The Mary Herczog Fund for Metastatic Breast Cancer Survivors

P.O. Box 603

Bloomfield Hills, MI  48303

By Phone:  877.234.PINK (7465)

Cancer Care  The Financial Assistance Program helps with treatment-related costs, such as transportation, home care and child care.  The Co-Payment Assistance Foundation helps with insurance co-payments to cover the cost of chemotherapy and targeted treatments.

Cancer Care

275 Seventh Avenue

New York, NY  10001

By Phone:  800‑813‑HOPE (4673)

Call to apply:  Call 800-813-HOPE (4673) and speak with a CancerCare social worker to complete a brief interview.  They can be reached from 10 a.m.–6 p.m. (ET) Monday through Thursday, and 10 a.m.–5 p.m. (ET) on Friday.

The Angela Andrade Foundation  Grants have ranged from paying outstanding medical bills, mortgage payments, tuition assistance and providing financial assistance for vacations.

You are eligible to apply to the Angela Andrade Foundation if:

  • You are a patient with metastatic breast cancer
  • You are receiving treatment within the United States
  • You are a permanent resident of the United States

In order to apply for a grant, an applicant must mail a completed application to the address indicated below.

Download the application here:  https://angelaandradefoundation.blogspot.com/p/srchttpsdocs.html

Grants will be given in $1,800 increments. Grants will be given on an as needed basis. Recipients are selected monthly and must wait a year before applying for another grant from The Angela Andrade Foundation. The applicant must submit a completed application including confirmation from a healthcare provider (through a sealed letter). When possible, all grant payments will be made directly to service providers on behalf of the individual recipient. In some instances recipients may be eligible for reimbursement, but they must provide receipts prior to expense reimbursement.

The Angela Andrade Foundation 
The Dallas Foundation
Reagan Place at Old Parkland 3963 Maple Avenue, Suite 390
Dallas, Texas 75219
(214) 741-9898
Email:   angelaandradefoundation@gmail.com
American Cancer Society  Breakthrough research. Free lodging near treatment. A 24/7/365 live helpline. Rides to treatment.  And much more!
Call to see what all they can help YOU with for your specific situation.  
Cancer Help line:  800-227-2345

American Cancer Society Road to Recovery Program

The program is intended to assist with cancer-related appointments.  Patients must provide a 3 business day advance notice, not including the first date a ride is needed, when making requests.  All arrangements must be made through the American Cancer Society Patient Services department. Patients should NOT contact volunteer drivers directly to request rides. 

American Cancer Society Patient Services department must be notified immediately if a patient’s plans change and a ride is no longer needed.  The program is subject to volunteer availability.  A request will be submitted to determine if drivers are available.

Patients will be notified no later than one business day before the scheduled appointment to provide a status update on the request and if a driver was found. (Patients may be notified sooner than this.)  If a volunteer driver is found, patients may be contacted by the driver the night prior to the appointment.

Please feel free to call the American Cancer Society’s Patient Services department with any questions. Our toll-free number is 888-227-6333.

American Cancer Society – Hope Lodge  Each Hope Lodge offers cancer patients and their caregivers a free place to stay when their best hope for effective treatment may be in another city. Not having to worry about where to stay or how to pay for lodging allows guests to focus on getting better. Hope Lodge provides a nurturing, home-like environment where guests can retreat to private rooms or connect with others. Every Hope Lodge also offers a variety of resources and information about cancer and how best to fight the disease.

Check out webpage for more info:  https://www.cancer.org/treatment/support-programs-and-services/patient-lodging/hope-lodge.html

**Join our private Breast Cancer Financial Help and Resources – Cancer Butterfly Facebook Group to ask questions, share info, and get in the info sharing first hand 🙂

Click here to check out our complete Cancer Butterfly Foundation Grant List 

Click the compass below to check out all of our other free resources:

 

 

Several New Grant Foundations

Great News!  Several of our group members have shared information on programs that have helped them during their cancer treatment!  So we wanted to be sure to pass on the information on these grants…..

Everything from Foundations that offer FREE Gasoline cards to cancer patients, FREE Gift cards to restaurants and retail stores to cancer patients, Grants for help with out of pocket costs relating to Breast Reconstructive Surgery, Grants to help with rent/mortgage, utilities, car payments, child care,  medical expenses, food, dental, and medical co-pays!

Join our private Breast Cancer Financial Help and Resources – Cancer Butterfly Facebook Group to get in on the sharing first hand 🙂

***Here is the list of Foundations that have been newly added to our Cancer Butterfly Foundation List (go down the list and start applying today!):

Simple Loaf of Bread  Gasoline gift cards are sent to those undergoing treatment to help ease the cost of the gas spent on trips to medical treatments.

SIMPLE LOAF OF BREAD

PO Box 403
Wilton, CA  95693

 916-479-5052

slobcards@gmail.com

AIRS-Alliance in Reconstructive Surgery   Grants for help with out of pocket costs relating to Breast Reconstructive Surgery.  All grant applications for medical expenses relating to breast reconstructive surgery submitted through this process will be considered.  Each applicant who has undergone a mastectomy will be considered for a grant, based on their application details and the support information received. All grants are awarded through an objective and nondiscriminatory selection process.  Criteria for AiRS Foundation’s grants to individuals are based on the Foundations submission to the IRS at the time of its approval for 501(c)3 standing as a charitable foundation. Grants awarded may range from an individual’s medical bill co-pay to the full cost of reconstructive surgery, hospitalization, and other related medical expenses.

MAILING ADDRESS

3401 LEE PARKWAY, SUITE 1504
DALLAS, TEXAS 75219

PHONE

877-489-4877

E-MAIL

info@airsfoundation.org

Jill’s Wish  Offers grants to help with rent/mortgage, utilities, car payments…….Jill’s Wish offers grants of up to $1500 on a rolling basis to cover non-medical living expenses for those with newly-diagnosed or terminal breast cancer. The grant is for your housing expenses (rent or mortgage), utility bills and any car payments. We pay your bills directly to the housing lender, landlord, utility company and auto loan holder, so you don’t have to worry. It is one more thing you can rest assured is taken care of while you spend time with friends and family and rest and recover.

Jill’s Wish

PO Box 7151

Louisville, KY  40257

(702) 237-9123

info@jillswish.org

The Tiffany Foundation  Empowers people living with cancer with “Hope. Help. Now.” by making direct financial grants. These grants help to pay rents, medical expenses, transportation cost, child care, and other related expenses.

The Tiffany Foundation

10249 E Elmwood Dr.

Sun Lakes, AZ 85248

Phone: 602-300-5859

The Cancer Card Exchange  Playing “The Cancer Card” by collecting and distributing gift cards to cancer patients.  The Cancer Card Xchange distributes one-time gifts of various gift cards to verified cancer patients.

Apply thru their website:  https://cancercardxchange.org/

FREE Dental Care  If you can not afford dental care there are many free and low cost dental care programs in every state of the United States where you can get the care you need and you pay very little or nothing at all.  You could be receiving all types of dental care including checkups, cleanings, fluoride treatments,caps, dentures, braces, fillings, dental implants, extractions and much much more. 

check out their website:  http://freedentalcare.com/

FreeDentalCare@FreeDentalCare.Com

Provision Project  Spreading seeds of HOPE to the hurting.  The mission of Provision Project is to provide financial relief to women in active treatment for breast cancer.  The breast cancer battle is real. The news of diagnosis is hard to receive. Treatment is scary. And for some women, life has become nearly impossible. Marriages have ended. Jobs have been lost, or they’re too sick to work. Now, in addition to fighting for their lives, they are battling to keep up with the most basic of bills: food, rent, utilities, gas, medical co-pays. It’s heartbreaking.  That’s why Provision Project was created. Provision Project makes a way for women in active breast cancer treatment to receive tangible help quickly. We hope you’ll join us.

Apply thru website:  http://provisionproject.org/

Provision Project

PO Box 42066

Mesa, AZ 85274

Click here to check out our complete Cancer Butterfly Foundation Grant List 

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Questions???  please feel to join and ask questions in our private facebook group – “Breast Cancer Financial Help & Resources -Cancer Butterfly”

Some cancer grants cover chemo treatments received prior to being approved for the grant!

Several cancer grants actually allow you to use your awarded grant funds to cover chemo treatments and other cancer drugs that you received prior to being approved!

Some cancer grants allow you to use funds to cover treatments received up to 180 days prior to being approved for funding!  So if you were approved for grant funding in say April, you could use your grant funds to cover chemo treatments or other drugs that you received all the way back to November.

All of the cancer grant foundations have different guidelines and rules that they follow as far as the amount of grant funding you receive and their “retro” rules.

Retro – (retroactive) Definition:  to go back in time, how far the grant program will allow you to go back in time to use your benefits on treatments you have already received before you were actually “approved” for a grant award.  Some grant programs will allow you to use your awarded grant benefits on treatments that you already received 30-180 days before you were actually approved for the grant program.

One of the grants that I was awarded was for $2,500.00, and I used $1,054.33 to cover chemo treatments that I received PRIOR to being approved for the grant and PRIOR to even applying to the program!  See our foundation grant list below…

Each foundation will also provide you with a specific end date that you must use your grant benefits by or your benefits will expire and be unusable.  Some foundations will allow you to reapply if you get to your benefit expiration date and you still need co-payment assistance.

If you are approved for a co-payment assistance grant the foundation will let you know your approved date, your grant award dollar amount, time period you have to use your co-payment assistance grant, and how many days you will be allowed to use the grant funds for retro services.

Read our page on Chemotherapy and drug grant overview (to Save you $$$) and after you are clear on how the grant process works go to our Foundation Grant List and start making some phone calls and see if you can put some money back in your pocket 🙂

Click on the compass below to check out our other free resources to help you be more comfortable during your cancer treatment:

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Neulasta Injection can help you get approved for a cancer grant

The very expensive Neulasta Injection is often given the day after chemotherapy treatment in order to stimulate your bone marrow to make your white blood cells recover more quickly from the effects of the chemo drugs and to help ward off infections.

This injection can cause bone pain in your legs, arms, lower back, and chest.  The bone pain should lessen each time you receive the injection.  The injection is usually given at least 24 hrs after chemotherapy to stimulate the growth of new, healthy, white blood cells.

If you are receiving the Neulasta Injection you can apply for cancer grants to help offset your out of pocket cost on this drug and possibly on the other cancer drugs you are receiving too!  See below for example…

EXAMPLE:  Basically let’s say you have breast cancer, but the foundation you called is not accepting any more new breast cancer applications this month, or they are not accepting any more new applications for the specific cancer drugs you are receiving, you can still apply if they are accepting new applications for CIN (chemo induced anemia).

You would qualify to apply as CIN if you are receiving (or did receive) the very expensive neulasta injection.  

And, because you got your “foot in the door” with your CIN application with this foundation and if approved through your CIN application, you very well may also be able to get ALL your other cancer related drugs covered (as long as they are on that foundations approved list, even if they are not specifically accepting new applications for those drugs any longer that month, and as long as your health insurance paid a portion of the cost, which left you with a co-payment).

Read our page on Chemotherapy and drug grant overview (Save $$$)  for more detailed information on cancer grants and our Foundation grant list page.

Click on the compass below to check out all of our free resources to help you be more comfortable during your cancer treatment:

Save money on out of pocket Hospital bill co-pays

As you go through cancer treatment you will accumulate a lot of various individual bills for hospital services.  These services may include lab work, MRI, PET scan, echocardiogram, ultrasounds, X-rays, Mammograms, biopsies, genetic tests, surgery, and any other large test performed at the hospital.

The costs of all these tests can REALLY add up!  Usually your health insurance company will have negotiated the rates on these services with your hospital, but you may still have quite a bit to pay out of pocket on your co-pays.

The amount I owed the hospital for my out of pocket co-pay cost for all my breast cancer related hospital expenses was $1,594.88.  Thankfully, I learned how to apply for a discount on these costs and luckily was able to receive a 54% discount off of that amount, so then I only owed $726.22!

When you also have out of pocket co-pays and deductibles to pay for chemotherapy and radiation treatment, all the out of pocket costs can really start to add up!  So anywhere you can save money helps a lot!  Thankfully, there is financial help for cancer patients!