PLATINUM2024

HealthWell Foundation

When health insurance is not enough.

aka HealthWell Foundation   |   Germantown, MD   |  www.healthwellfoundation.org

Mission

Mission: The HealthWell Foundation reduces financial barriers to care for underinsured patients with chronic or life-altering diseases. The HealthWell Foundation is an independent, non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to help underinsured patients living with chronic or life-altering diseases afford their prescription drug copayments, health insurance premiums, deductibles and coinsurance and other out-of-pocket costs. HealthWell's vision is to ensure that no patient, adult or child, goes without essential medical treatments because they cannot afford them. Since 2004, we have helped more than 320,000 patients afford their medical treatments and lead healthier, more fulfilling and productive lives.

Ruling year info

2005

President and Chief Executive Officer

Michael Heimall

Main address

20440 Century Blvd. Suite 250

Germantown, MD 20874 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

20-0413676

NTEE code info

Fund Raising and/or Fund Distribution (G12)

Health Support Services (E60)

Cancer (G30)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

To ensure that no patient goes without health care because they cannot afford it.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

HealthWell Copayment and Premium Assistance Programs

The HealthWell Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2003 that is committed to addressing the needs of individuals with insurance who cannot afford their copayments, coinsurance, and premiums for important medical treatments. Our vision is to ensure that no patient goes without health care because they cannot afford it.The HealthWell Foundation provides financial assistance to people with inadequate insurance who are living with chronic or life-altering illnesses.  To date, HealthWell has awarded assistance to over 405,000 patients in over 65 disease areas.

Population(s) Served
People with diseases and illnesses

Where we work

Awards

4-Star Charity 2017

Charity Navigator

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Average grant amount

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

HealthWell Copayment and Premium Assistance Programs

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Number of patients assisted

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

HealthWell Copayment and Premium Assistance Programs

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Life-to-date total number of patients assisted through 2024: 1 million+

Total dollar amount of grants awarded

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Related Program

HealthWell Copayment and Premium Assistance Programs

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

In 2023, we awarded $1,081,984,824 through 217,740 grants

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Our vision is to ensure that no patient, adult or child, goes without essential medical treatments because they cannot afford them.

HealthWell recognizes its responsibility as a charitable patient assistance organization to operate both efficiently and with utmost integrity. We strive to be the industry leader and innovator in the copay space adhering to practices that are of the highest ethical and compliance standards. To that end, our core goals are to:

• Assist the maximum number of patients each year with their cost-sharing obligations based on available funding
• Achieve and maintain efficient operations to maximize the proportion of each donated dollar going directly to patients
• Expand HealthWell's viability and sustainability by helping patients in new disease areas and with new areas of copayment assistance
• Increase revenue while maintaining low fundraising costs.

Our commitment to those we serve has always been to make their HealthWell experience as seamless and as user-friendly as possible.
HealthWell continues to leverage its capabilities to further improve customer experience and program efficiency through a series of operational, IT and administrative enhancements. We recently implemented program enhancements to make it even easier – and faster – for patients, providers and pharmacies to apply for and manage their HealthWell grants. This includes streamlining our grants process by offering secure online portals, instant grant approvals and real-time pharmacy cards which makes if possible for applicants to get approved instantly and begin using their grant the same day they apply.

In addition, HealthWell continues to diversify its funding streams and expand assistance to new diseases areas as well as new areas of copayment assistance. To date, HealthWell has awarded more than 368,000 grants in over 50 therapeutic categories to more than 250,000 underinsured Americans in need of financial assistance.

HealthWell is also expanding its support of America's underinsured. While we continue to provide grants to help patients access life-changing medical treatments, we are moving beyond traditional copayment assistance to address patient needs for premium assistance as well as assistance with out-of-pocket costs for supplies, supplements, surgeries and more.

We take pride in being consistently lean so we can stretch our dollars and provide maximum direct financial support to people who come to us. This is our mission and our commitment. All administrative and fundraising costs are financed by HealthWell and are not taken out of any donation, which means that 100% of every donated dollar goes directly to patient grants and services.

For well over a decade, the HealthWell Foundation has supported America's underinsured by providing them with a financial lifeline. Since our founding in 2003, we have assisted more than 250,000 patients with grants to help them with their cost-sharing obligations for essential medical treatments. HealthWell has moved beyond traditional copayment assistance to address patient needs for premium assistance as well as assistance with out-of-pocket costs for supplies, supplements, surgeries and more.

Donors, patients, providers and patient support communities place their trust in HealthWell because we take our responsibilities seriously and strive to be the industry leader in practices that meet the highest ethical and compliance.

HealthWell is governed by an independent Board of Directors that includes professionals in the fields of health care administration, clinical practice and research, direct patient care, patient advocacy and health law. HealthWell's dedicated staff of twelve oversee and manage the day-to-day program.

HealthWell has a proven track record of using donations effectively and efficiently. HealthWell received Charity Navigator's Four Star Charity rating indicating that it exceeds industry standards and outperforms most peer organizations. Additionally, HealthWell is ranked on The Chronicle of Philanthropy's annual “Philanthropy 400" list of America's largest charities.

Through our relationships with national organizations who are key influencers in a variety of disease communities, we have mutually expanded awareness of our programs and services resulting in a broader reach to those who need us most.

Since launching our first fund in 2004, HealthWell has provided over $630 million in assistance to more than 250,000 patients covering more than 50 disease areas. In 2016, HealthWell celebrated a record year in corporate and individual donations to support the launch of new funds and the continued operation of existing programs.
Demand for HealthWell's services continues to grow each year.

Moving forward, our focus will remain on diversifying and strengthening our funding streams to meet growing patient demand in addition to expanding assistance to new diseases states and new areas of copayment assistance.

On the operational side, utilizing state-of-the-art technologies, we will continue to identify ways to realize more program efficiencies to help even more patients in need.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.
  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

HealthWell Foundation
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

HealthWell Foundation

Board of directors
as of 11/05/2024
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

David Knowlton

Donald Liss, MD

Stephen Weiner

Nancy Carteron, MD, FACR

David Knowlton

Suzanne Miller, PhD

Jerri Scarzella, BSN

Cathleen Bennett, Esq.

David Ertel

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No