Patient Advocate Foundation and Susan G. Komen® Announce the Launch of a Financial Grant Program for Breast Cancer Patients

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Aug 12, 2013, 10:34 ET

-- Financial assistance helps patients by providing funds for select support needs --

DALLAS and HAMPTON, Va., Aug. 12, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Beginning today, breast cancer patients now have access to financial support in the form of grants that contribute towards the expenses resulting from treatment including lymphedema care and supplies, childcare and/or eldercare or transportation costs necessitated by treatment. Nationally recognized case management organization Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF) has partnered with Susan G. Komen® to launch the Komen Treatment Assistance Program Financial Aid Fund; ensuring breast cancer patients across the nation have access to monetary support that can bring needed relief during treatment.

Eligible patients include those who have been diagnosed and are in active treatment for breast cancer that fall within 250% or less of the federal poverty limits. Qualified patients may use the one time grant of $300 to cover expenses for lymphedema care and supplies, durable medical equipment, transportation costs associated with getting to and from treatment, prosthesis and wigs, or childcare and/or eldercare necessitated by treatment.

Patient Advocate Foundation's professional staff is available to assist applicants and distribute funds through the toll free financial assistance line at (855) 824-7941. Live financial counselors are available Monday – Thursday 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time to assist patients through the grant process.

Komen has provided generous support to Patient Advocate Foundation to launch this financial aid program allowing breast cancer patients greater monetary support services while involved in treatment and recovery. "PAF is known nationally for their important work helping patients deal with everyday challenges while accessing needed healthcare. We are pleased to provide the means to supplement PAF's case management support by providing an avenue for financial assistance for breast cancer patients," stated Komen's Chief Mission Officer Chandini Portteus.

"More than 60% of the issues our case managers addressed last year surrounded medical debt and financial concerns as a result of illness. For the patient who is attempting to manage the additional costs inherent in cancer treatment, this grant will provide needed respite to an already stressed budget, " stated Beth Patterson, President of Mission Delivery at PAF.

Patients needing assistance can call (855) 824-7941 or learn more about the eligibility guidelines at www.patientadvocate.org/gethelp

About Patient Advocate Foundation
PAF is a national nonprofit organization, established in 1996, that seeks to safeguard patients through effective mediation assuring access to care, maintenance of employment and preservation of financial stability relative to their diagnosis of chronic, life threatening or debilitating disease. Patient Advocate Foundation has been consistently rated as a 4-star "exceptional" charity by Charity Navigator, the foremost independent evaluator of charities in the United States. For more information about Patient Advocate Foundation, please visit www.patientadvocate.org.

About Susan G. Komen®
Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Suzy, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer. Today, Susan G. Komen® works to end breast cancer in the U.S. and throughout the world by investing more than $790 million in breast cancer research and $1.5 billion in community outreach programs over the past 30 years; providing funding to help low-income and uninsured women get screened and get treatment; advocating for cancer research and outreach programs; and working globally in more than 30 countries. Visit komen.org. Connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.