For many people, the shock of a breast cancer diagnosis is followed by the overwhelming expense of treatment. But there are resources available to assist patients who might experience unexpected financial need. Organizations providing funding and grants to assist with cost-of-living expenses help alleviate the additional burden of trying to make ends meet while in recovery.
Cost-of-Living Expenses
Susan G. Komen offers the Komen Treatment Assistance Program to eligible patients who are actively undergoing treatment. This program aims to help women face the challenges of recovery by providing financial assistance, breast cancer education, psychosocial support, and information about resources in your area.
The Pink Fund is a non-profit that specifically assists with cost-of-living expenses for 90 days for eligible breast cancer patients who are in active treatment. Between 2019 and 2020, The Pink Fund distributed $806,000 in financial aid, covering utilities, transportation, housing, and insurance. Between 2008 and 2020, 2,626 grants were awarded.
Help With Medications & Insurance
The Cancer Lifeline helps patients stay in treatment, offering funding to help meet basic needs or access medical care. The funding helps to cover medications, health insurance, co-pays, or transportation to treatment.
The costs of paying for treatments that insurance doesn’t always cover is a significant burden for many patients. Non-profit programs that offer co-pay relief include CancerCare Co-Payment Assistance Foundation, Good Days, HealthWell Foundation, and the Patient Access Network Foundation.
Low-Cost Mammograms
There are also a number of organizations that provide low-cost mammograms to help cover breast cancer screenings. The National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, offered by The U.S. Centers for Disease Control, provides access to breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income, uninsured, and underserved women.
If you are not covered by Medicare, you might be eligible for a free mammogram through the Susan G. Komen Foundation Affiliates, the American Cancer Society, and the American Breast Cancer Foundation. Through the month of October, many facilities offer free, or low-cost mammograms, like the YWCA Encore Plus Program.
Social Media & Crowdfunding
Social media communities affiliated with larger organizations are great sources of information when it comes to finding support. On Facebook, Susan G. Komen offers fundraisers and an active community of survivors. On Twitter, follow @BCRFCure, the official account for The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
You can also help raise funding for breast cancer patients through Go Fund Me’s crowdfunding platform. You can create your own fundraiser to help with research funding by sharing your story, making a donation, or choosing the organization for which you’d like to help raise funds.
Donate To Patients
Even if you don’t have need, you can help others who do. Plenty of resources allow you to donate clothing and household items or give hats and scarves to organizations that send them to someone in need.
Through the United Breast Cancer Foundation, you can donate clothing and household items to help patients meet their basic needs during treatment. You can schedule a pickup of your items through Breast Cancer Pickups. Crochet for Cancer lets you donate a chemo cap, scarves, blankets, or yarn.
Feature image, ©Konstantin Yuganov/stock.adobe.com
This story originally ran in our October issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to our monthly magazine.
