Tag: Cancer

NeedyMeds, Patient Assistance
No Comments

Pack Health: A New Resource for Personalized Support

Needymeds exists to help you get healthcare costs under control. We know you need additional resources to make sense of healthcare —  that’s the whole point of the NeedyMeds Voice.

But what we don’t always talk about is the importance of finding your own voice. Do you ever find yourself with lingering questions? Do you ever have trouble holding yourself accountable? Do you ever fail to speak up?

We recently discovered a resource that supports individuals on a one-on-one basis, where a health coach comes right alongside you to keep you motivated and get your questions answered in your day-to-day life. It’s called Pack Health, and it’s a digital coaching service. This means they can reach you wherever you are and on your schedule – on the phone, online, or both.

These people get what you’re going through, and they’ll help you with everything from exercise and nutrition to budgeting and logistics. You set the goal, they’ll help you get there. It’s that simple.

We reached out, and they’ve opened up a special opportunity for our community. We were able to reserve 100 free spots for members

Read more
Read More
Awareness, Patient Assistance
No Comments

Blood Cancer Awareness Month

September is National Blood Cancer Awareness Month, also known as Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month.  Leukemia is a type of blood cancer that is fairly common, with an estimated 52,380 new cases in 2014. From the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society website: “Leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow, the spongy center of bones where our blood cells are formed. The disease develops when blood cells produced in the bone marrow grow out of control.” There are multiple types of Leukemia, some more common than others.

Lymphoma is similar to Leukemia in that it is a common type of blood cancer. More from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: “Lymphoma is the name for a group of blood cancers that develop in the lymphatic system. The two main types are Hodgkin lymphoma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL). In 2014, about 761,659 people are living with lymphoma or are in remission (no sign of the disease). This number includes about 177,526 people with Hodgkin lymphoma and 584,133 people with NHL.” Hodgkin lymphoma is defined by the presence of Reed-Sternberg cells, named after the scientists who discovered

Read more
Read More
Patient Assistance, Pediatrics
No Comments

All About Camps and Retreats

You may be thinking since it’s already mid-summer it’s too late to search for a camp. Not true! Many of the Camps and Retreats we have listed run at various times throughout the year or are even year-round. More importantly, the Camps and Retreats we list are solely dedicated to serve adults and children with specific medical conditions or diagnoses as well as non-medical challenges such as social, emotional, psychological or educational issues.  It can be very upsetting when an individual cannot participate along with their peers due to a medical condition. Luckily, NeedyMeds has stepped in to make sure that is not the case by offering a helpful list of camps and retreats specifically designed for people with certain diagnoses.

Who Do They Serve?

Every camp listed on the NeedyMeds site is different – serving different people based on their medical condition. In general the camps are designed for children and young adults with a specific diagnosis. There are also many camps available for children whose parents have a specific diagnosis, and a number of camps that are designed not just for children but for siblings or the entire

Read more
Read More
Drug Discount Card, Health, NeedyMeds, Patient Assistance, Prescription Drugs, Specialty Drugs
No Comments

More Americans Spending $100,000+ on Medications

More than half a million Americans had prescription costs over $50,000 in 2014—a 63% increase from the previous year. The increase is associated with doctors prescribing more expensive specialty drugs for diseases such as cancer or hepatitis C. The increase of American patients spending over $100,000 has nearly tripled from 47,000 in 2013 to an estimated 139,000 Americans in 2014.

There are many details in the report done by Express Scripts, the largest US pharmacy benefit manager. About 60% of patients spending over $100,000 were prescribed at least 10 medications, and 72% had scripts written by at least four different prescribers. The highest increases in costs are related to expensive new hepatitis C cures being introduced, with the number of patients receiving treatment for hep C increasing 733% in 2014. Of Americans spending over $100,000, 32% were taking cancer medications—several of which were approved in recent years. Some of the new drugs for hepatitis and cancer can cost upwards of $90,000 alone. Anti-depressants are among the most widely prescribed specialty medicines.

Health insurance covered an average of

Read more
Read More
Patient Assistance
2 Comments

Leukemia & Lymphoma Resources

In honor of Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month we are focusing this week’s blog post on resources for these two conditions. Leukemia is a type of blood cancer that is fairly common, with an estimated 48,610 new cases each year. From the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society website, “Leukemia is a type of cancer that affects the blood and bone marrow, the spongy center of bones where our blood cells are formed. The disease develops when blood cells produced in the bone marrow grow out of control.” There are multiple types of Leukemia, some more common than others. The four most common types are named according to the type of cell that is affected, they are Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL), Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) and Chronic Lymphocytic

Read more
Read More

About Us

Welcome to the NeedyMeds Voice! We look forward to presenting you with timely, provocative pieces on healthcare reform, patient advocacy, medication and healthcare access, and other health-related news. Our goals are to educate, enlighten, and elucidate; together, we will try to make sense of the myriad and ongoing healthcare-related changes in the U.S. today.