PAN highlights need for more awareness of financial assistance programs in Pharmaceutical Commerce
Information about this website: Following the March 2026 merger of Patient Advocate Foundation and the PAN Foundation, this website is now a part of Patient Advocate Foundation and remains active during our website transition.
Where to find information during our transition:
- About the merged organization: uniting.patientadvocate.org
- Financial assistance: totalassist.org
- Additional direct patient services and resources: patientadvocate.org
- Education: panfoundation.org and education.patientadvocate.org
- Clinical trials education: clinicaltrials.panfoundation.org
- Advocacy: npaf.org
- Research: patientinsightinstitute.org
Recent polling from the PAN Foundation’s Center for Patient Research found that only one in five (21 percent) U.S. adults report being extremely or very familiar with financial assistance programs. This despite the fact that 30 percent of U.S. adults polled reported needing financial assistance in the past year to help cover their out-of-pocket healthcare expenses.
In this article for Pharmaceutical Commerce, PAN Foundation Chief Mission Officer Amy Niles, highlights these and other key findings from this poll and explores what’s needed to help address these awareness gaps. In particular, she emphasizes some resource patients want to help them better understand and navigate financial assistance programs, including a list of questions to ask their providers, a case manager who could help with assistance, and online courses to explain assistance programs.