PAF’s Co-Pay Relief Program Celebrates 20 Years of Service to Patients!

Exciting news: April marks the 20th anniversary of our Co-Pay Relief Program (CPR). It was through the work of our case managers on behalf of patients that we first became aware of a significant and alarming trend that posed an insurmountable barrier to some for prescribed healthcare—the shifting of substantial out-of-pocket medication expenses to patients. And at that time there were few safety net resources in place to assist.

Responding to this unmet need Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) went to work. We developed a program model to deliver help and secured the second OIG opinion (#04-15) ever issued to a Charitable Patient Assistance program that would allow PAF to provide eligible patients with direct financial assistance for their insurers’ out-of-pocket requirements for prescription medications. CPR opened our program to patients in April of 2004 and has since helped more than 736,000 patients, distributing $2,384,832,399 — that’s nearly $2.4 billion to patients!

Last year alone (2023) the CPR team approved 83,999 patients for assistance and distributed $300M+ through 48 disease funds including 19 dedicated Health Equity funds. Our CPR financial specialists managed 197,222 incoming calls and processed 909,777 grant payments on behalf of patients. Without this support, many of these patients would not have received the necessary treatment to save or sustain their lives.

We are privileged to be stewards of this critical financial support and to have this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of so many patients and their families. Recently we received videos from some folks helped by CPR, and in commemoration of this important anniversary, we’d like to share their stories with you!

Richard is living with Multiple Myeloma, has been helped by CPR for several years, and encouraged friends who also needed help to reach out to the program. This is his message for others!

 

Click to play: https://vimeo.com/928481588

 

 

Robin has metastatic breast cancer and was concerned about how they would pay the cost of her life-saving drugs and other medical expenses. Thanks to PAF and CPR, “I didn’t have to worry about that, I could focus on staying as well as possible.”

 

Click to play: https://youtu.be/BWjGONfd2-Y?si=2_Wo2hoj5Z9GptfH

 

 

Deirdre has Multiple Sclerosis and without Co-Pay Relief she could not afford her monthly medications and insurance premiums. This is her story.

 

Click to play: https://vimeo.com/928481293

 

 

To learn more about the Co-Pay Relief Program visit https://copays.org/. If you or someone you know needs assistance, call CPR toll-free at 866-512-3861, where program specialists are available to personally guide you through the application and enrollment process. You can also apply for help online at https://portal.copays.org/#/login, with secure portal access for patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, and pharmacies.

For the past 20 years, the generous and sustaining financial support from our Co-Pay Relief donors has made this program possible. We extend our sincerest thanks and gratitude to each contributor. If you would like to honor CPR with a financial donation, visit  https://copays.org/donors/.