Curated COVID-19 Resources for Financial Advocacy

With the COVID-19 pandemic resulting in unprecedented unemployment and an economic recession, financial advocacy services for cancer patients are more important than ever. At any given time, the job of financial advocates and navigators requires them to stay on top of rapidly changing assistance programs, insurance coverage changes, new state healthcare laws, and evolving community resources. The pandemic is modifying and magnifying these tasks, making this job more difficult than ever.  

To help with these efforts, ACCC recently launched a carefully curated web page—COVID-19 Financial Advocacy Resources—that brings together in one convenient repository a continually updated list of: 

• Manufacturer assistance program updates related to COVID-19
• New and updated information on foundation assistance related to COVID-19
• Medicare and Medicaid coverage updates
• Commercial payer updates and resources
• State-specific resources
  

The page will be updated on a weekly basis to reflect new information as it becomes available.

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For more resources to help financial advocates and navigators identify additional sources of support for their patients, the ACCC online Patient Assistance and Reimbursement Guide contains directions for enrolling patients in needs-based programs sponsored by 35 pharmaceutical companies. Taken together, these programs grant eligible insured, underinsured, and uninsured patients access to more than 150 oncology medications at little or no cost.  

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Launched in March 2020 and continually updated as new resources become available, the ACCC Coronavirus Response Page contains information specific to the needs of the multidisciplinary cancer care team during this turbulent time. The page contains links to pandemic-specific webcasts, podcasts, and blog posts produced by ACCC as well as links to external information, resources, and toolkits organized by category to help you stay abreast of the most relevant information about COVID-19 and its effect on oncology care.

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If you want to share additional resources with your colleagues or have questions you haven’t found answers to, the ACCCeXchange online discussion forum is available to all ACCC members as a platform to crowdsource practical solutions. Being able to tap into the knowledge and expertise of your colleagues is more important than ever during this time in which answers are neither easy nor clear. Check out our FAQ page for details on how to get started. 

If you have any questions about ACCC’s resources for financial advocates and navigators, contact Christie Mangir, Program Manager for Provider Education, at cmangir@accc-cancer.org