A message from Patient Advocate
Foundation

"Since 1996, Patient Advocate Foundation has been engaged in providing direct patient services to patients with chronic, debilitating and life-threatening illnesses who are confronting critical access issues including insurance denials, lack of access to care, medical debt crisis issues preventing access. Since our inception, Patient Advocate Foundation has closed more than 500,000 cases and provided information to millions of patients, healthcare professionals and caregivers through our website www.patientadvocate.org. We have made a difference in the lives of many, insuring their access to prescribed healthcare while assisting them in maintaining their financial health and security in a time of great uncertainly. We have not accomplished this work alone, rather we are guided by a Board of Directors who are all national leaders in the healthcare industry, collaborated with the leading national non-profit organizations and are supported generously by our partners in progress. Together, we have made a lasting impact in the lives of so many.

Our patients do capture who we are far more eloquently than those of us who are privileged to serve them, so with this acknowledgment, I wish to share one brief greeting received from Ken in New York in 2010... I'm writing this letter to express my heartfelt appreciation to the PAF. I have worked hard all my life and have been fortunate enough to have never been unemployed. I've never drawn an unemployment check or received any form of assistance. At 58 years of age, when my cancer diagnosis reached me, I had never stayed overnight in a hospital. Along with the worry about my future and medical condition, I had the added worry of medical bills while receiving only 60% of my pay through disability benefits. The assistance from your foundation has greatly relieved my stress. You have restored my faith in humanity. I am very grateful for your financial assistance.'

In closing, PAF is a proud partner with Breakaway from Cancer^®. Breakaway from Cancer provides an opportunity for PAF to reach out to patients who are having healthcare access problems, providing them with information about resources that will assist them in overcoming those obstacles. It also provides consistent and coordinated opportunity to facilitate wide distribution of information to the public attending the Breakaway from Cancer related events, educating people about the services provided by PAF. Lastly, and certainly most importantly, Breakaway from Cancer has created a one of its kind joint partnership between four of the leading patient advocacy organizations serving the cancer community. Working together, we have made great strides towards providing comprehensive patient education and navigation services to the public including messaging about cancer prevention, providing support during diagnosis and treatment phases, bringing remedy to patient care barriers and offering survivors opportunities to give back. PAF is appreciative of the partnership we have with Amgen and the Breakaway from Cancer partners... it take a team to fight cancer and we are proud to be part of the team."
Nancy Davenport-Ennis
Founder & CEO, Patient Advocate Foundation

Patient Advocate Foundation Mission

To serve as an active liaison between patients and their insurer, employer and/or creditors to resolve insurance, job retention, and/or medical debt crisis matters relative to their diagnosis.

Founded in 1996, Patient Advocate Foundation is a national non-profit direct patient services organization that provides negotiation, mediation and arbitration services, free of charge, to resolve access to healthcare issues for insured, uninsured and underinsured patients diagnosed with chronic, debilitating and life-threatening conditions. Additionally, PAF professional staff seeks to preserve maintenance of employment and to resolve medical debt crisis issues that threaten to delay or stop access to prescribed healthcare services. PAF has developed a deep expertise in the areas of professional case management as well as financial aid administration. All program services offered by PAF utilize these competencies as guiding principles in meeting the needs of chronically ill patients.

Helping Patients Access Quality Healthcare
PAF's professional case management staff provides a broad spectrum of services to patients experiencing access to care issues. PAF case managers are specialized in the areas of nursing, social work, medical coding and billing and insurance, equipping them to assist patients with issues including: obtaining pre-authorization approvals; accessing required pharmaceutical therapies; developing and expediting the appeals process; and expediting applications for federal and state income and disability programs. Our case managers are experts in negotiating relief from medical debt as well as locating resources for cost of living expenses. We strive to establish a safety net for both insured and un/under insured patients experiencing access to care issues. The primary goal of the case management staff is to assure access to prescribed health care by negotiate positive resolutions to issues that have previously resulted in denial of access to health care, while educating and empowering consumers to facilitate informed decisions in the future.

Providing Financial Assistance To Meet Co-Pay Requirements
PAF launched the Co-Pay Relief Program (CPR) in 2004 in response to the growing need for copayment support in the market place. CPR provides sustained, direct financial assistance to patients who medically and financially qualify enabling them to meet their required copayments both at the pharmacy and in the physician setting. CPR currently supports patients suffering from 20 various diseases making our program the most diverse in the industry. Since inception, the PAF CPR program has served more than 36,000 patients and provided more than $96 million dollars in patient awards.

PAF fosters partnership opportunities and is proud to partner with the American Cancer Society, Lance Armstrong Foundation LIVESTRONG SurvivorCare, Susan G. Komen for the Cure, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Centers for Disease Control, the State of Virginia, the Federal Government as well as members from the provider, hospital and pharmaceutical communities, leveraging our expertise in both case management and financial aid administration to jointly serve patients with these national partners.

For more information about Patient Advocate Foundation tools and resources, visit www.patientadvocate.org.

www.patientadvocate.org
www.insureUStoday.org
www.facebook.com/pages/Patient-Advocate-Foundation/121863874508285?ref=ts&v=wall
www.youtube.com/user/PATIENTADVOCATEoORG

Upcoming Events

To learn more about upcoming events from the Patient Advocate Foundation, visit
http://www.patientadvocate.org/events.php.