Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) announced a donation of $6.9 million in 2011 to support the HealthWell Foundation, an independent non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to eligible individuals to cover coinsurance, copayments, healthcare premiums and deductibles for certain treatments. The donation was made to HealthWell's co-pay assistance funds to help underinsured cancer patients with their out-of-pocket disease related expenses that are not covered by their insurance plans, regardless of treatment selected.
"Bristol-Myers Squibb has robust patient assistance programs for cancer patients and this contribution reinforces our commitment to helping patients gain access to the medicines they need," said John Tsai, vice president, U.S. Medical, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "We are proud to support the HealthWell Foundation in its mission to reduce barriers to care for underinsured patients."
In addition to its support of cancer patients, Bristol-Myers Squibb has a number of patient assistance programs in place in other disease areas for eligible patients. In 2011, the company helped more than 200,000 patients with free Bristol-Myers Squibb prescription medications estimated at more than $400 million through donations to the Bristol-Myers Squibb Patient Assistance Foundation as well as other programs.
About Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover, develop and deliver innovative medicines that help patients prevail over serious diseases.