Blood and Marrow Transplantation Finances

Everyone in the U.S. (check the website for availability in your area)

2-1-1 is the telephone number of a call center that offers information and provides referrals to health and human services for everyday needs and in times of crisis. Services vary from community to community.

Examples of service referrals include:

• Basic human need resources: food banks, clothing, shelters, rent assistance and utility assistance
• Physical and mental health resources: medical information lines, crisis intervention services, counseling, drug and alcohol intervention
• Employment support: unemployment benefits, financial assistance, job training, transportation assistance and education programs
• Support for older Americans and persons with disabilities: home healthcare, adult daycare, congregate meals, Meals on Wheels, respite care, transportation and homemaker services
• Support for children, youth and families: childcare, family resource centers, summer camps and recreation programs, mentoring, tutoring and protective services.

Certain sections of Canada (check the website for availability in your area)

2-1-1 is the telephone number of a call center that offers information and provides referrals to health and human services for everyday needs and in times of crisis. Services vary from community to community.

Examples of service referrals include:

• Health services and support
• Financial and social assistance
• Housing and utility help
• Food assistance and meal programs
• Senior services and home care
• Government program assistance
• Parenting and family programs
• Disability support services
• Volunteer organizations
• Newcomer services
• Mental health support

Patients, caregivers and families before, during and after a blood or marrow transplant (BMT), healthcare professionals, researchers

To create an opportunity for all patients to receive the blood, marrow, or umbilical cord blood transplant they need; to provide free support, information and transplant-related resources 

• Be The Match, operated by the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP), manages the largest and most diverse marrow registry in the world; conducts research to improve transplant outcomes; provides legislative advocacy to protect patient access to care; provides clinical education for healthcare professionals
• Certified oncology patient navigators and licensed social workers provide confidential, one-on-one support and reliable, easy-to-understand information from diagnosis through recovery.  Emotional support is provided through counseling and support groups as well as through connections with others who’ve been through transplant
• Helps to access financial grants and insurance resources, including Be The Match grants
• Provides personalized support to search for and join clinical trials, including the Jason Carter Clinical Trials Program.  Visit www.jcctp.org or call 888-814-8610 for details.

Transplant patients, survivors and their caregivers in the U.S.

BMT InfoNet is dedicated to providing transplant patients, survivors and their loved ones with emotional support and high quality, easy-to-understand information about bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cell and cord blood transplants.

• Offers easy-to-understand information about bone marrow, peripheral blood stem cell and cord blood transplants
• Transplant Directory search tool
• Educational webcasts
• Caring Connections, a program that links people who are considering a transplant, or a family member, with others who have been through transplant and can offer support
• Counseling services to help patients understand treatment options and potential healthcare providers
• BMT InfoNet Drug Database is a guide that lists many of the drugs bone marrow, stem cell and cord blood transplants patients receive during treatment; it explains why they are used and some of the possible side effects.

• Patient Assistance Fund offers a limited amount of financial assistance for gas, food, rent or other necessities. Social workers may apply on behalf of a patient via phone or email at help@bmtinfonet.org

Children and adults with leukemia in the U.S., healthcare professionals and researchers

To support research efforts towards finding the causes and cure for leukemia.

• Patient Aid Program offers limited funds (up to $3,000 per year) to assist with certain treatments, services and prescriptions; funds are available on a first-come, first-serve basis
• Matching Dollar Program matches up to $3,000 in donations raised by the applicant, family or friends during a specific time period
• CLRA funds grants to doctors conducting promising research about leukemia.

Patients 21 and under in the U.S., who require a life-saving organ, bone marrow, cord blood or stem cell transplant

COTA strives to make the transplant journey less stressful for patients and their families.

• Offers guidance to families who undertake fundraising efforts to pay for medical expenses for a child undergoing a transplant. Provides information to the family’s community to assure them the funds raised for transplant-related expenses are raised ethically and used appropriately. Because COTA is the trustee and manager of the money raised in your community, these funds are not taxable income and do not jeopardize participation in assistance programs. Additionally, COTA offers each patient fundraising campaign a challenge grant of up to $10,000
• Staff travels to meet with patients, volunteers and transplant professionals, in addition to an in-house staff that is in regular communication with our families.

Patients, families, caregivers

To advance the clinical application of newborn stem cells by partnering with leading research institutions to establish FDA-regulated clinical trials, exclusive to CBR families, for conditions that have no cure today.

• Newborn Possibilities Program® offers free cord blood and tissue processing and five years of storage to qualifying families in the U.S.
• Genetic counselors are available to discuss your family’s medical history and to answer questions about how newborn stem cells might be applicable to your family.

Children and young adults (ages 18 to 30) significantly impacted by a cancer diagnosis; parents with cancer who have children age 17 or younger

To help families with cancer manage the overwhelming financial and emotional burdens of the disease.

• Patient (or family) must be represented by a social worker or resource manager; be in active treatment or within one year of treatment; and be able to demonstrate financial hardship.  As funds are available, financial assistance may be considered for necessity items such as household bills, child care, uncovered medical expenses, treatment-related travel, etc.
• Provides free Financial Guide after registering with organization.

Transplant patients or those with catastrophic injury or illness

To support community-based fundraising for people with unmet medical expenses and related costs due to cell and organ transplants or catastrophic injuries and illness.

• Will help a patient develop a fundraising strategy to help with medical bills, insurance, household expenses, transportation, etc.  Call for details regarding fees related to donations.

Those in need of a stem cell transplant or anyone looking to be a bone marrow donor

To save lives by recruiting bone marrow donors and by providing support services to children and adults with leukemia and other diseases treatable by marrow transplants.

Families whose child is under the age of 21 and diagnosed with a pediatric cancer before age 18

To be a leader in childhood cancer research and advocacy while providing financial and emotional support to families whose children are battling cancer.

• Provides financial assistance for a variety of needs to pediatric cancer families while the child is undergoing treatment; social worker from treatment facility must apply on behalf of the family
• Works with funeral homes to provide assistance towards memorial costs for children whose battle with cancer has ended
• Funds pediatric cancer research.

Patients needing tissue, bone marrow or other transplants, and their loved ones, in the U.S.

To empower transplant patients to create futures with hope; to help patients and their loved ones obtain financial assistance for medical expenses.

• Offers fundraising assistance and guidance along the way
• Each patient may have a personal page on the NFT website, allowing donors to learn about the patient’s story and easily make a donation
• Provides extensive media outreach on behalf of the patient.

Families of children with cancer in the U.S.

To fund research to find cures for childhood cancers and treatment protocols; to provide financial assistance to families of children with cancer nationwide.

• Provides grants to minimize the financial hardship that is directly attributable to the child’s illness; application form and eligibility criteria available on website.

Transplant patients and families, caregivers, survivors

To improve the quality of life for cancer and transplant patients and their families by providing vital financial assistance, comprehensive resources, educational information, physician referrals, and emotional support programs.

• Lifeline Fund provides financial support to help cover the costs of donor searches, medications, home and child care services, medical equipment, transportation, cord blood banking, housing costs and other expenses associated with transplant​
• Carelines provides social media tools for crowdfunding, journaling and a volunteer task calendar for anyone with a cancer diagnosis or receiving a bone marrow, stem cell or cord blood transplant 
• Airbnb Open Homes Medical Stays offers free temporary housing for cancer and transplant patients and their caregivers
• One-to-One Fund enables patients to reach out to family, friends and social networks for financial support
• Scholarship Grants help make educational aspirations a reality for bone marrow, stem cell or cord blood transplant survivors
• Clinical Care Counseling provides confidential individual and family supportive counseling, financial guidance and resource referrals for cancer, transplant patients, and family members
• Ask the Expert enables individuals to anonymously pose questions concerning transplantation and to have them answered by transplant specialists
• SupportLine links transplant patients and their families with volunteers who have gone through the transplant experience
• Support Groups provide patients, families and caregivers the opportunity to share experiences and draw support from one another
• Medical and Educational Handbooks provide comprehensive transplant information and resources