By Nancy Carteron, MD, FACR, Health Sciences Clinical Professor, University of California, Berkeley, and Board Member, HealthWell Foundation
About one in five people living with gout admit that nothing is more painful than a gout flare. Beyond the pain associated with gout, is known to impact the quality of one’s life, causing people to miss work, creating a sense of embarrassment, and generally controlling their lives. Gout also increases the risk of other diseases, especially cardiovascular disease.
While some risk factors for gout, including age and genetics, are out of patients’ control, other risk factors, such as diet, hydration levels, and alcohol consumption, can be managed. The goal of these lifestyle modifications, along with daily prescribed medications, is to decrease the amount of uric acid buildup in the blood to optimal levels.
Stress, especially long-term stress, can also have physical manifestations and may trigger symptoms and severity of diseases such as gout.
Stress can come from several sources, among them relationships, work, current events and societal factors. Indeed, surveys have found that having gout presents a tremendous emotional burden to those who have it.
Stress also can come from financial worries, which may be exacerbated if gout-related work absences result in a reduction of income, or if gout treatment costs become onerous. The gout/financial stress connection can be a vicious cycle. Costs relating to health insurance premiums, travel to doctor visits, and the very medications that can keep gout in check can also be the source of financial stress.
Gout can be is an expensive disease to treat. For patients who suffer six or more gout attacks per year, direct gout-related health care costs can top $12,000. Elderly and treatment-resistant gout patients could pay even more – upwards of $18,000 – to manage their gout. Uricase is especially expensive. Most gout patients also have at least one additional chronic condition, further increasing patients’ stress and economic burden.
Financial Assistance is Available for Gout Patients
To help alleviate the financial stress of gout treatment, patients can turn to assistance programs available through medication manufacturers, organizations like NeedyMeds.org and CostPlusDrugs.com, and charitable patient assistance programs (CPAPs), like the HealthWell Foundation.
The HealthWell Foundation is a leading independent non-profit CPAP dedicated to improving access to health care for America’s underinsured. When health insurance is not enough, HealthWell can help fill the gap by assisting with copays, premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket expenses. In 2021, HealthWell awarded more than $818 million in grants through its disease funds, and since 2004, it has helped more than 727,000 patients afford essential treatment and medications. HealthWell’s vision is to ensure that no patient goes without health care because they cannot afford it.
HealthWell offers two funds to help patients with gout. Its Gout-Medicare Access Fund provides Medicare recipients up to $12,000 in grant assistance for copayments for prescription drugs and biologics used in the treatment of gout. (Most patients use an average of $1,850 during their 12-month grant period.) Under this fund, HealthWell can also assist with health insurance premium costs. Because Medicare supplemental policies can help with cost shares related to many aspects of patients’ health care, using a HealthWell grant to cover premiums may be a better option than using it to cover treatment-specific costs.
Independent of the Gout-Medicare Access Fund, HealthWell offers travel assistance to all eligible patients living with gout. This may be especially useful for patients receiving IV medications at their doctor’s office. Through the Gout Travel Fund, the Foundation provides up to $2,500 in assistance for travel relating to obtaining treatment for the condition. (Most patients use an average of $1,000 during their 12-month grant period.)
HealthWell also has partnered with Ride Health to provide transportation services to eligible grant recipients. Through this service, the Foundation hopes to eliminate the need for grant recipients to pay up-front for rides to and from appointments relating to their treatment. Fees for services are deducted directly from the patient’s grant.
Don’t Delay Gout Care Because of Cost
To be clear, gout is not just an acute condition requiring treatment only during painful flares. It is a chronic disease that requires ongoing adherence to therapy. Unfortunately, only about 10 percent of people with gout are getting the ongoing treatment they need.
Don’t delay your gout care because of cost. To see if you qualify for one of HealthWell’s gout funds, or a fund relating to a gout co-morbidity, visit HealthWell’s Online Application site or call HealthWell’s patient support line at 800-675-8416.
