A diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma changes everything. While its most immediate and important impact is the threat to health, it also affects the way that victims prioritize, how they move through their lives, and how they relate to those around them. All too often the important choices they make – including where to get treated – are limited by their financial concerns, but financial assistance programs have made many of those decisions easier.
CancerCare Announces New Transportation Assistance Program
There are several different financial assistance programs available for patients diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma, and one of the newest is being offered by CancerCare. CancerCare is a national organization that offers cancer patients a wide range of support services and resources at no charge. They recently announced the establishment of a program specifically dedicated to those diagnosed with the rare and fatal asbestos-related disease.
The new program being offered to patients with malignant mesothelioma is targeting a common problem affecting those diagnosed with the disease: the costs of accessing the specialized care that they need. Because malignant mesothelioma is such a rare illness, the state-of-the-art treatment that patients need is only available at a limited number of specialized cancer centers. Recognizing that the cost of traveling to these locations is often prohibitive, CancerCare’s Mesothelioma Transportation Assistance Program will provide patients with money for flights, hotel rooms, and other costs involved with accessing care.
Mesothelioma Patients’ Phone Interviews and Applications Lead to Grant Money
In order to receive the grant money from the Mesothelioma Transportation Assistance Program, mesothelioma patients need only to participate in phone interviews and complete financial applications. According to one patient, Francine Shuman of Augusta, Georgia, the funds enabled her travel and lodging in Atlanta for treatment at Emory University. Without the $1,000 grant, she says, she would not have been able to afford the trip for the much-needed treatment.
The costs of malignant mesothelioma care go far beyond the treatments themselves, and include the impact on the family, travel expenses, and more. For information on assistance, contact the Patient Advocates at Mesothelioma.net today at 1-800-692-8608.
