National Non-Profit Organization Steps in to Help Virginia's Uninsured Access Needed...

National Non-Profit Organization Steps in to Help Virginia's Uninsured Access
Needed Healthcare

Virginia Cares Uninsured Program from the Patient Advocate Foundation and the
Commonwealth of Virginia Has Already Helped Hundreds of Uninsured Virginians

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Patient Advocate
Foundation (PAF) - a national, non-profit organization based in Virginia
providing assistance to tens of thousands of patients every year who face
access to healthcare issues due to financial or insurance denials - and the
Commonwealth of Virginia announced today in a news teleconference with
Virginia daily newspapers such as the Daily Press (Newport News) and the
Freelance Star (Fredericksburg) the 110-day program successes of the Virginia
Cares Uninsured Program (VCUP), a patient assistance program created by PAF
and the Commonwealth to assist Virginia's more than 1 million uninsured
residents access appropriate healthcare services when they are diagnosed with
a chronic, debilitating or life-threatening illness. Additionally, PAF shared
VCUP successes with the Virginia House and Senate Delegations from Northern
Virginia yesterday at the Virginia General Assembly. Senator Charles Colgan,
chairman of the Northern Virginia Senate Delegation, introduced the PAF team.

Since September 2007 when the program began receiving patients, the VCUP's
healthcare professionals have helped more than 780 uninsured Virginians who
were facing various types of barriers to healthcare. To enroll in this
program the patient must be a legal resident of the United States; currently
residing in Virginia; and living with a diagnosis of chronic, life-threatening
or debilitating illness. The VCUP's case managers:

-- Assist patients with applying, expediting decisions and appealing Social
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Long
Term Disability (LTD) and/or Short Term Disability (STD)
-- Negotiate funding and/or insurance coverage to access medical devices,
surgical procedures, medications, medical discounts or write-offs for
services, and clinical trials
-- Negotiate access to free or reduced medication, nutrition, housing,
utilities, and free or reduced transportation and lodging for patients who
must travel for treatment
-- Negotiate insurance with COBRA, Medicaid, Medicare, Risk Pool Coverage,
Guarantee Issue Plans, HIPAA plans and FAMIS/FAMIS Select

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Bureau of the Census,
approximately 47.6 million Americans do not have any form of health insurance.
The 2005 Census estimates that in Virginia alone, there are 952,000 uninsured
adults and 156,000 uninsured children, translating to approximately 12.8
percent of the state's population. Uninsured patients such as these face a
variety of serious medical debt and access to care crises - such as being
unable to access needed medical care and screenings, fill prescribed
medications or pay existing medical bills - that can significantly harm their
quality of care and health outcomes.

"We are pleased to have been able to help so many of our fellow Virginians in
just the first 110 days of the Virginia Cares Uninsured Program by providing
expert case management at no charge to help patients gain access to healthcare
services that meet pharmaceutical, surgical, radiation, physician and social
service needs," said Nancy Davenport-Ennis, President and CEO of PAF. "Quality
healthcare is a basic human need and a shared social responsibility, and all
Virginians should have access to a full continuum of healthcare services,
particularly when diagnosed with a life-threatening illness."

VCUP highlighted the first 110-day program successes including:

-- Providing critical information and assistance to more than 780 Virginians,
380 of whom were uninsured with serious medical conditions and required case
management assistance to create access to healthcare
-- Conducting 82 outreach visits to Virginia community clinics, hospitals,
Virginia Department of Social Services, and Virginia Medicaid offices to
review benefits of the VCUP program for their consumers
-- Developing and distributing program information to 138 hospitals and social
service offices throughout Virginia
-- Holding educational sessions with medical personnel and staff from four
research hospitals, nine health departments and 13 medical clinics
-- Launching the VCUP website, www.pafcares.org, whereby uninsured patients
can access additional information about the VCUP and PAF, download brochures
and contact program case managers
-- Providing quarter to half-page display ads in Virginia newspapers informing
citizens of the VCUP program

Under the construct of the VCUP, PAF case managers work closely with patients
to evaluate their individual needs, striving to facilitate access to timely
and appropriate care. In some cases this includes helping patients apply to
state or federal programs, while in others it requires detailed investigation
into local, regional and/or disease specific resources and individual
healthcare providers who accept and care for indigent patients regardless of
their ability to pay. The VCUP program representative also negotiates for
free medications, transportation to/from medical services, and any additional
underlying social service needs to facilitate access to healthcare.

Additional PAF programs include Co-Pay Relief, National African American
Outreach Program, Colorectal CareLine, LIVESTRONG(TM) Partnership and the
National Hispanic Latino Outreach Program. For more information on the
Virginia Cares Uninsured Program, visit www.pafcares.org or call
1-800-532-5274.

Patient Advocate Foundation is a national non-profit organization that seeks
to safeguard patients through effective mediation assuring access to care,
maintenance of employment and preservation of their financial stability.

SOURCE Patient Advocate Foundation

Jenn Lawson of Patient Advocate Foundation, +1-703-548-0019