Two of our patient advocates used Atlas to quickly find program matches for a patient to cover the costs of both his diabetes drugs. They called to share the news with him on the hospital’s behalf, but his wife took the call. They were both patients at the same hospital for over thirty years, were on social security and had limited retirement funds. She was hesitant to answer the call at first, thinking the hospital was asking for money. They told her this was a free patient assistance program offered by their hospital, and they were trying to help them pay for their medication with no strings attached. Once she understood, she was happy to take the call and grateful for the fantastic news.

They spoke a few times to gather all the documentation required to enroll her husband in the aid programs. On one of these calls, she asked if they could help her find a philanthropic aid program to help pay for her hepatitis C medication, Epclusa, which had a $7,000 copay. Within five minutes, they were able to find another program match and get her enrolled. Her free medication arrived before her appointment the following week!

She couldn’t believe that philanthropic aid programs like these existed and that they were able to quickly help both her and her husband reduce the financial toxicity they faced.