CAF Announces New Fertility/Pregnancy Support Program
The Cooley’s Anemia Foundation (CAF) is proud to announce a new program to assist U.S. thalassemia patients with fertility and pregnancy issues. A full application form can be accessed by clicking here.
CAF recognizes that individuals with thalassemia may encounter challenges related to fertility and/or pregnancy, often related to thalassemia or its management or to treatments involving bone marrow/stem cell transplantation or gene therapy. In order to provide assistance to meet these challenges, CAF is offering reimbursement of up to $1,000 for approved expenses related to fertility and pregnancy among U.S. thalassemia patients. At this time, this reimbursement may be provided twice during a patient’s lifetime for a total of $2,000. An application for reimbursement may be submitted only once per year between July 1 and June 30.
What Expenses are covered?
CAF will provide up to $1,000 in reimbursement for expenses for treatments, devices, activities, and projects which are intended to enable an individual with thalassemia to address fertility and/or pregnancy issues.
Examples of expenses which would be considered for reimbursement (of up to $1,000) include but are not limited to:
- · Fertility enhancement processes
- · Storage of eggs or sperm
- · In vitro fertilisation
- · Surrogacy-related expenses
Again, these are just some examples to give an idea of the scope of treatments that would be considered.
Applicants must provide proof of expenses paid in order to receive reimbursement. In some instances (such as the use of fertility enhancement processes), CAF may request proof of approval (e.g., letter, prescription, etc.) of treatment, device, activity, etc. by a healthcare provider.
Total expense of treatment, device, activity, etc. may total more than $1,000; however, only a maximum of $1,000 will be reimbursed during any one application period. (For example, receipt may indicate that cost of treatment is $3,000. If approved, CAF will reimburse $1,000 of the $3,000 expense.) The reimbursement will not be applied to treatments, etc. fully covered by insurance. (That is, if insurance covers all of a treatment, etc., CAF cannot reimburse for that
expense. However, if insurance leaves a portion uncovered, CAF can reimburse up to $1,000 of the uncovered portion.)
CAF will attempt to fund as many applications as possible. Interested individuals should contact Eileen Scott (escott@thalassemia.org) in advance of submitting an application.
Who is eligible?
Any U.S. thalassemia patient who meets all of the following requirements is eligible to apply for support under this program.
- • Is registered in CAF’s patient database
- • Is a resident of the United States and has been a resident for a minimum of 2 years
- • Has not already received $1,000 in reimbursement under this program for expenses incurred during the one-year period between July 1 and June 30
How to apply
Applicants should first contact CAF Patient Services Manager Eileen Scott (escott@thalassemia.org) to let her know they intend to submit an application. Their email should indicate the amount (estimated if not already expended) to be reimbursed and approximately when they expect to submit their application for reimbursement.
After receiving a response from the Patient Services Manager, individuals should fill out and submit the required application, including any necessary attachments. Attachments include receipts/proof of expenditure; CAF may in some cases request verification that the treatment, device, activity, etc. for which reimbursement is being sought has been approved by an appropriate healthcare provider. Applications may be submitted between July 1 and June 30.
It is CAF’s intention to fund all approved requests from eligible patients and will make every effort to do so; however, in the event that requests exceed available funding, CAF reserves the right to regretfully reduce the amount of funds reimbursed to individuals or to deny requests for reimbursement.