Support Programs

Financial Assistance Programs

Care and Care+Plus Programs
The National Gaucher Foundation, through the National Gaucher Care Foundation, funds two financial assistance programs to help families and individuals with Gaucher Disease to pay for certain Gaucher-related expenses. To be eligible for either program, an applicant must:

CARE PROGRAM
The CARE Program grants funds to subsidize, or to purchase in full, a health insurance policy (primary, secondary or both), to which the patient is entitled or eligible, but for which the patient does not have adequate personal resources to enroll.

CARE+PLUS PROGRAM
The CARE+PLUS Program provides financial assistance to eligible Gaucher patients for a variety of Gaucher-related expenses, such as diagnostic tests, infusion charges, travel expenses, and over-the-counter medications. The program excludes deductibles and co-pays.
Both programs involve an application process and review by the Care Board for determination of financial and medical necessity.

The National Gaucher Foundation realizes that Gaucher patients have extraordinary needs that may cause a financial burden on themselves and their families. These two programs have been developed to lighten this burden. For additional information contact Barbara Lichtenstein, Program Director of the CARE and CARE+PLUS Programs at (866) 346-8176 or (301) 963-4489.

Genetic Disease Online Discussion Group
Talk to Others Interested in Gaucher Disease

This is a subscriber-only e-mail discussion list dealing with several genetic diseases, of which Gaucher Disease is the most common. There is a strong patient presence on The Genetic-Disease E-Mail Discussion List. Subscribers include professionals, researchers, religious leaders, family members, and others. The names and addresses of subscribers to this list are NOT publicly available.

We'd like to invite you to join the listserve if you, your family or friends has any rare metabolic disease. Dr. Wayne Rosenfield started an online discussion group for people who have Gaucher Disease or other rare inherited metabolic diseases. Since its 1994 inception, the discussion group has well over 200 subscribers throughout the world. It includes people with Gaucher Disease, family members, doctors, nurses, researchers and others interested in Gaucher Disease or other inherited metabolic disorders. It's accessible 24 hours a day and it is independent of any entity's control.

This discussion group is a means of networking and communication for families and individuals with Gaucher Disease. They are able to share experiences and opinions, and provide support to each other. The NGF encourages everyone who has access to the Internet to join the online discussion group

Remember, this discussion group is not just for those individuals connected with Gaucher Disease and we hope that you will become a part of it and share information with others and join in discussions.