Find links and resources to help clients address barriers

Many patients are faced with barriers that cause them to avoid or delay medical treatment. Barriers are non-medical situations that may be related to low income, health insurance, housing, transportation, literacy or cultural differences.

National Resources

Financial Assistance (Publicly Funded)

• Medicare (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
• Medicaid
• Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
• Veteran’s Administration (VA)

Housing

• National Association of Hospital Hospitality Houses (non-profit organizations provide clients and their families lodging while receiving medical treatment away from home)
• Low Income Housing Help – Section 8 (federal government vouchers to cover help housing costs)
• Volunteers of America’s Affordable Housing Initiatives
• Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (also in other states)
• Homelessness Assistance Programs
• Other HUD homeless resources

Transportation

• Go Go Grandparent (allows seniors to use Uber and Lyft without smartphone)
• Mercy Medical Angels (provides free transportation nationwide to and from medical care for qualifying in-need individuals and their families)
• Corporate Angel Network (clients use empty seats on corporate jets)
• LifeLine Pilots (volunteer pilots who fly people with medical or compassionate need)

Medication

• GoodRx (online tool to find the lowest prices and discounts on prescriptions) 
• NeedyMeds (information on patient assistance programs)

Other Resources

• United Way 2-1-1 (help with food, housing, employment, healthcare, counseling and more)
• Otso Group (provides ostomy supplies to uninsured)
• Paying for Senior Care (medical equipment grants, low-interest loans and recycling/exchange programs)

Disease-Specific Directories

Cancer

• Cancer.Net (directories for financial support, national and local service organizations, travel, housing, medical and treatment cost assistance)
• Colorectal CareLine (transportation, housing, medical equipment)
• Patient Advocate Foundation (co-pay assistance, help lowering medical debt, medication assistance)
• American Cancer Society: Find Support Programs and Services in Your Area American Cancer Society
• Volunteers of America (Colorado Branch)
• Colorado Cancer Coalition
• Mesothelioma Guide
• Patient Legal Handbook (answers to cancer-related legal questions)  Also available in Spanish

HIV/AIDS

• The Body U.S. (HIV/AIDS Organizations)

Regional Resources

Denver Resources

Food

• Project Angel Heart (meal delivery to people coping with life-threatening illness)
• Volunteers of America (for people over 60 (Meals on Wheels, grocery delivery, food bank, affordable housing,emergency housing, housing for the homeless)

Adult Day Care and Transportation

• Senior’s Resource Center (transportation, day and respite care for adults with memory, cognitive or developmental disabilities)

Basic and Medical Needs

• Friends of Man (clothing, food, short-term daycare, medication, health insurance, and medical equipment such as wheelchairs, van lifts, ramps, hearing aids, dentures, glasses)

Medical Equipment and Dental Procedures

• A.V. Hunter Trust (grants for glasses, hearing aids, wheelchairs, prosthesis, dental work and dentures)

Legal Services

• Colorado Legal Services (provides representation to immigrants who have been victims of certain types of crime, including human trafficking)

Financial Help / Cash Grants

• Raymond Wentz Foundation ($500-$1,000 grants for cancer clients in need)
• Sense of Security (funds to cover housing, insurance premiums, transportation, child care, utilities, groceries for breast cancer clients)

HIV/AIDS

• The Body U.S. (HIV/AIDS Organizations)
• Colorado AIDS Network Inc. (transportation, housing, financial assistance, testing, education)