Greetings!
After maxing out a credit card to pay for his medication, Jonathan told his pharmacist he could no longer afford the treatment he needed.
When Jonathan received a grant from PAN, he wrote us to say our assistance allowed him to continue taking his medication and saved him from becoming homeless.
Chances are, Jonathan’s story sounds familiar.
Medication costs are an immense burden for
millions of patients, but other roadblocks can present major challenges to treatment adherence.
Kaiser Health News reports that even when medication co-pays are covered, other costs can be a barrier to access.
At PAN, we recognize there are several factors that impact a person’s ability to start and stay on treatment, and we’re committed to offering meaningful support to those we serve.
As you may know, this summer we launched our
Treatment Transport pilot program to help patients overcome transportation barriers and reduce rideshare costs for trips to the doctor’s office or pharmacy.
We are proud to support more than 200 patients so far, and look forward to expanding this program to offer greater coverage. If you have any questions or comments about this program, please let us know.
This year marks PAN's 15th anniversary, and we're celebrating the 32,000 providers and pharmacists in our network! Thank you for your collaboration over the years. We could not do this important work without you.
My goal is to make the process of finding, applying for and receiving patient assistance as streamlined as possible for you and your team. Don't hesitate to let me know if we can do anything else to make your job easier. We’re here to help.
Kind regards,
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Ayesha Azam
Senior Director of Medical Affairs
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Content
- Poll: Medication Appeals
- A Note From Joan
- How to Maximize Your Patient’s Grants
- Portal Pros: New Validation Requirement
- Claims Corner: Remittance Advice
- New Medications Covered
- PAN's Position Statements
- Issue Brief on Medicare’s Low-Income Subsidy Program
- Schnucks Pharmacy Nourishes Lives to Achieve Best Outcomes
- On the Line with Michael: Meet PAN's Program Representatives
- PAN at Upcoming Conferences
- Avella and BriovaRx Sponsor FundFinder
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We're interested in learning how your organization handles medication appeals on behalf of Medicare patients, and would greatly appreciate your insight.
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The appeals process is a problem for my organization and patients.
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At PAN, we use the International Classification of Disease and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10), and other widely accepted methodologies to specify the clinical scope of our disease funds.
While healthcare providers may rely on diagnosis codes in their daily work, we understand that pharmacists may not have these codes at their fingertips.
Here are my recommendations on how you can sign your patient up for the most appropriate disease fund:
- Search for your patient’s medication on our website or portal.
- Review the list of assistance programs that include your patient’s medication to see if any match your patient’s diagnosis.
- If there is not an exact match between your patient’s diagnosis and PAN’s fund, review the covered diagnosis codes and covered sub-types on the disease fund page to see if your patient qualifies for the fund.
If you are unsure if your patient qualifies for a specific disease fund and do not have your patient’s diagnosis code, please contact their treating physician.
If your patient’s diagnosis code is not on our website, you may
submit a review request under “Don’t See Your Diagnosis or Medication Listed?” or call us at 1-866-316-7263.
We value and support the indispensable (pun not intended!) relationship between you and your patients. If there is anything we can do to better assist your team, don't hesitate to
email me
directly.
Best regards,
Joan Zhang, PharmD
Manager of Medical Affairs
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How to Maximize Your Patient's Grants
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Did you know the majority of patients submit a claim to PAN within 7 days of enrollment? Here are some tips to help your patients immediately utilize their assistance.
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Ensure your patient has started treatment, or will begin soon, before signing up for PAN assistance.
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We accept applications for patients who are currently in treatment or scheduled to begin treatment in the next 120 days.
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Verify all the medications your patient is prescribed.
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If your patient is taking more than one medication, their grant may be used faster and you may need to apply for a second grant.
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Let us know if your patient no longer needs their grant.
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Our grant use policy
will disenroll patients who do not have a paid claim every 120 days
, but if you know sooner, send us a secure message or give us a call.
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Portal Pros: New Validation Requirement
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Important no
tice:
To ensure your account information is kept safe, we are implementing an annual validation requirement for all Pharmacy Portal accounts.
Portal administrators must validate their organization’s information—including all individual portal user accounts—on an annual basis.
Stay tuned for more information by email and in your portal account.
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Our Pharmacy Portal is designed to help healthcare teams seamlessly apply for and receive patient assistance. If you haven't already, explore our enrollment processes and grant management system—tailored for pharmacies.
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Claims Corner:
Remittance Advice
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DST Remittance Advice must be accessed electronically.
To register for a new account:
- Click the RxNova link on the left side of the website
- Click Pharmacy Registration
- Fill out all of the fields and click Submit
Please note that DST Pharmacy Solutions does not issue paper Remittance Advice. Pharmacy payments are issued via Electronic Funds Transfer twice a month, on the 16th and at the end of the month.
For more information, please contact DST Health Solutions by
email
or at 866-211-9459, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. CST, Monday through Friday.
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We've added several medications to our assistance programs in the last few months.
You can review the full list of new covered medications
here
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PAN's Position Statements
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At PAN, our work extends beyond providing financial assistance. We also advocate for solutions that will reduce out-of-pocket drug costs for underinsured people with serious illnesses.
Read our position statements to learn more about our commitment to ensuring that high out-of-pocket costs do not impede access to life-saving medications.
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Issue Brief on
Medicare’s Low-Income Subsidy Program
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Medicare's Low-Income Subsidy program protects many seniors from high out-of pocket costs, but it’s restrictive eligibility requirements allow only a small portion of Medicare beneficiaries to qualify for the program. This leaves millions of seniors with no means to afford their treatments.
In our new issue brief, we explain the necessary changes to ensure access to those who need it. Check it out
here.
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Schnucks Pharmacy Nourishes Lives to Achieve Best Outcomes
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We recently spoke w
ith Patrick Kojima, a Clinical Specialty Account Manager from Schnucks Pharmacy in St. Louis, MO. Schnucks Pharmacy prides itself on nourishing the lives of patients by providing the tools and resources they need to improve their quality of life.
In our discussion, Patrick explains how trusting relationships between pharmacists and patients can help identify and overcome barriers prior to treatment initiation.
Read more
.
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On the Line with Michael: Meet PAN's Program Representatives
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Our call center representatives are the threads that connect patients, providers and pharmacists with PAN’s life-changing assistance. We hope that this blog series helps you get to know the wonderful people who are the front lines of our team, ready to offer caring and compassionate service to you and the patients you serve.
Meet Michael, a member of the PAN Portal Support Team, who shares with us a little about himself and how practicing patience while offering support over the phone can empower others.
Read more
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PAN at Upcoming Conferences
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Are you attending any conferences in the next few months?
Let us know if you’ll be at one of the upcoming events and conferences listed below. We’d love to see you!
We’re excited to meet you at NASP! Stop by
booth 310 and say hello.
- On 9/27, Ayesha Azam, Senior Director of Medical Affairs will host a session at 11:45 a.m., "Working with Charitable Assistance Foundations to Support Medicare Patients."
- On 10/25, Dan Klein, President and CEO will moderate a session at 1:15 p.m., "Enhancing Patient Access: How to Minimize Financial Toxicity."
PAN will exhibit at ACCC.
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Avella and BriovaRx Sponsor FundFinder
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We are grateful to
Avella and BriovaRx for their generous support of
FundFinder. With nearly 11,000 users, FundFinder has become a go-to resource for patients and healthcare teams looking to quickly identify which charitable foundations have available financial assistance.
Thanks to this new partnership, FundFinder will continue to help patients start and stay on treatment.
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If your organization is interested in supporting FundFinder, please
email us
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