Background

Northern Utah Cancer Foundation was created in 2014 as a not-for-profit, 501(c)3 corporation in response to a significant decrease in public foundation support for cancer care. Where there had ben substantial, consistent funding for many types of cancer, that support was drastically reduced to just a fraction of what it had been and support for many conditions was cut completely. At the same time, there were literally dozens of new therapies introduced for these same cancers for which there was now no financial support. Also, during the same period, what patients were expected to pay by their insurance companies increased substantially. These new therapies are extremely expensive and the combination of much higher cost and higher patient financial responsibility can put access to the most current and potentially appropriate cancer care out of reach for many patients.

While the assistance provided by pharma through co-pay cards, contributions to national foundations, etc is greatly needed and appreciated, it is not sufficient to meet the financial and insurance needs of many UHO patients, especially those whose insurance does not allow for co-pay card use (including Medicare and many other government payers) or who do not have insurance at all, or who have other financial needs not directly tied to their therapy. In many cases, patients fall into the gap between qualifying for Medicaid and being able to purchase insurance of their own. This doesn’t change the fact that they have cancer and that being under – or uninsured puts the best quality cancer care out of reach.