Has anyone heard of or worked with the HealthWell Foundation?

[Green_Tea]

Our oldest DD has severe asthma. At the moment she's on four different meds, which, because we have high deductible health insurance, are insanely expensive. Our out of pocket expense for her Flovent (which she NEEDS to take daily) is $222. Her Singulair is $127/month. In addition to that, she's on other meds, she sees a specialist and has had CT scans, x rays, bloodwork and visits to related specialists. We joke that they will soon grant us our own parking spot at the Children's Hospital.

My DH works for a small business that has been floundering. Each year he makes less money because his pay has frozen but the insurance costs (and the cost of living) increase. I am a full time student. The unemployment rate in the state we live in is 10%. Getting a new job with better benefits is next to impossible. Over the past three years DH (who has an MBA and more than 15 years of experience) has networked and sent out HUNDREDS of resumes with nary a nibble.

I contacted GlaxoSmithKline to inquire about coupons for Flovent and they referred me to the HealthWell Foundation, which assists patients with the expenses associated with having a chronic disease. I started to fill out the application, but they require my DD's SS#, and I am wary of putting it out there without knowing more about them and what the household income cap might be. We are in the crappy position of making too much money to typical qualify for any assistance, while not really making enough money to meet our expenses.

Anyone else BTDT? Any experience working with this or any other foundation like it?

[WolfpackMom]

I have no clue but wanted to say thanks for posting about this because we are currently looking into finding something like this for DS. We just filled his first asthma prescriptions and our copay on one of them was $175. I dont know what I will do if we need to pay that every month. :(

[Green_Tea]

I have no clue but wanted to say thanks for posting about this because we are currently looking into finding something like this for DS. We just filled his first asthma prescriptions and our copay on one of them was $175. I dont know what I will do if we need to pay that every month. :(

What's the script for? I regularly find coupons for $20 off Singulair (which softens the blow a little).

[WolfpackMom]

What's the script for? I regularly find coupons for $20 off Singulair (which softens the blow a little).

Budesonide - Generic Pulmicort. I need to figure out who makes it...

[Green_Tea]

I know AstraZeneca makes Pulmicort, but not sure how it works for generics.

I really feel your pain. The medical expenses we have stacked up have all but ruined us financially. We can't save a DIME because we are *still* paying off expenses incurred before we met our deductible last year, and now we have a brand new deductible to contend with. I never imagined that we'd be this up a creek at this point in our adult lives, yet here we are.

:gloomy:

[mommylamb]

Ugh, that sounds awful. I emailed my uncle who is a pediatric pulmonary specialist down in Florida to see if he knows about them.

[WolfpackMom]

I know AstraZeneca makes Pulmicort, but not sure how it works for generics.

I really feel your pain. The medical expenses we have stacked up have all but ruined us financially. We can't save a DIME because we are *still* paying off expenses incurred before we met our deductible last year, and now we have a brand new deductible to contend with. I never imagined that we'd be this up a creek at this point in our adult lives, yet here we are.

:gloomy:

Yes our 50% co insurance for DS ear tubes next week should hopefully meet our deductible for this year (for just DS' policy). And we are in the same position as you, make enough over that we dont qualify for things but not enough to easily afford these things. We werent expecting the surgery and asthma and I wish I had known - we would have done Cobra from DH's old job or put DS on my insurance - instead we got him an individual policy while DH is in the 90 day waiting period at his new job. :crying:

Have you looked into CHIP? In NC we dont qualify income wise. In some states children under 2 automatically qualify on a sliding scale, but not in NC.

[Green_Tea]

Ugh, that sounds awful. I emailed my uncle who is a pediatric pulmonary specialist down in Florida to see if he knows about them.

You're the best :). Thanks!

[Green_Tea]

Yes our 50% co insurance for DS ear tubes next week should hopefully meet our deductible for this year (for just DS' policy). And we are in the same position as you, make enough over that we dont qualify for things but not enough to easily afford these things. We werent expecting the surgery and asthma and I wish I had known - we would have done Cobra from DH's old job or put DS on my insurance - instead we got him an individual policy while DH is in the 90 day waiting period at his new job. :crying:

Have you looked into CHIP? In NC we dont qualify income wise. In some states children under 2 automatically qualify on a sliding scale, but not in NC.

I don't think we have CHIP in our state, but something similar - and we don't qualify b/c of income. You know, because we're ROLLING IN IT! :hysterical:

[mommylamb]

I don't think we have CHIP in our state, but something similar - and we don't qualify b/c of income. You know, because we're ROLLING IN IT! :hysterical:

CHIP is the federal acronym for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. It's in all states, but different states have their own names for it. It is supposed to be for children whose families make too much to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to afford insurance. But, you may not qualify because she is currently insured. It's different in different states, but many states have rules that you must have been uninsured for at least X amount of time before qualifying for CHIP because they do not want people to stop paying for their own private insurance if they could otherwise afford it so that they can get their kids on CHIP for the much more modest cost-sharing requirements of the program.

[C99]

It looks like it's basically non-profit case management. Did you read their FAQ? They require you to have a prescription health insurance plan.