HealthWell Foundation Opens Pulmonary Fibrosis Patient Fund

The independent, non-profit HealthWell Foundation is launching a new fund dedicated to supporting patients who suffer from pulmonary fibrosis. The main mission of the foundation is to offer financial help to underinsured people in the United States in order to improve their access to life-changing medical treatments.

The organization announced in a press release that it is going to focus its efforts on reducing the burden caused by this respiratory disease that provokes scarring of the lungs with a new fund for uninsured patients. The fund is going to offer copayment options to a series of eligible patients to help support medical expenses related to treatment of pulmonary fibrosis.

“We are poised to help pulmonary fibrosis patients breathe a little easier,” stated the president of the HealthWell Foundation, Krista Zodet. “For many people living with pulmonary fibrosis, simply breathing represents its own challenges. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we can help relieve the financial burden for these patients so the cost of treatments should not be a concern.”

The Pulmonary Fibrosis Fund is currently open for applications and is enrolling patients through the foundation’s online service or by telephone. HealthWell processes eligible payment requests regarding medication over $25, and according to a list of covered medication, including prescriptions filled through the HealthWell pharmacy card and sent to HealthWell to be processed.

[adrotate group=”3″]

“Because of the prevalence and financial toxicity of pulmonary fibrosis, this fund provides access to treatment options for those suffering from the disease that may have been unattainable,” said the vice chair and secretary of the Board of Directors of the Foundation, Nancy Carteron, MD, FACR, who is also an associate clinical professor of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco.

“We can help these patients reduce anxiety, and increase well-being through eliminating excess stressors associated with a chronic disease diagnosis, like cost,” added Carteron about the new fund, which is meant to reduce the suffering of the 140,000 people in the U.S. who are diagnosed with the disease, according to the American Lung Association.

HealthWell is able to provide funding to its patients due to donations received from a series of institutions, including health care industry members, pharmaceutical manufacturers and other health care organizations and individuals. Despite these funding sources, the foundation works to be independent and supports patients regardless of their donors or physicians.