Post Script InformerSUMMER 2018

Patient Services Incorporated “Making the gift of health a lifetime benefit”®

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit #2611Richmond, VA

P.O. Box 5930Midlothian, VA 23112www.patientservicesinc.org

Thoughts from the CEO…By Art Wood, PSI CEO

Someone once said that the only constant in life is change!

Most of you have probably heard by now that our President and Founder,

Dana Kuhn, recently retired. I have stepped into his shoes as the new

CEO. They are big shoes to fill, and all of us at PSI have found Dana’s

passion for patients contagious. It is what motivates all of us to do what we

can to ensure that patients are able to access their treatments. This is seen

from those who answer the phones and talk with the patients, to those who

help ensure that there are adequate finances to pay the assistance, to those

who work with our donors, to those who advocate on Capitol Hill for our

bill in Congress. Dana has instilled an ethic of concern and compassion

throughout the organization. This will not change as we move into

the future.

The challenges of transition always provide unique struggles. As I

settle into this new role, I am intensely aware that we work in a different

environment from years past. The regulatory environment has not been a

friend to patients. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has made

it extremely difficult to interact with the industry as we had in years past.

The media seems to bring any form of patient assistance into question as

a contributor to higher drug prices. Insurance companies are looking for

ways to prevent assistance from being provided (ask any company about

the “accumulator” issue). Recently I read that research from

the Center for Health Policy & Economics at the University

of Southern California indicates that, as recently as 2016,

over half (51 percent) of drugs with copay assistance had no

generic substitute. The same research showed that 20 percent

of prescriptions for brand-name drugs used a copay assistance

coupon. Furthermore, among the 200 most costly drugs in

2014, 132 were brand-name drugs, and copay coupons were

needed to afford 68 percent of these drugs. How can providing

assistance push patients to higher cost products when there

are no other alternatives for many of these patients? How

will patients be able to afford their treatments without this

assistance?

As I look into the crystal ball, I only see one other

constant… many patients will continue to be unable to afford

their therapies. I appreciate the donors who are willing to

continue to support PSI, so we might carry out our mission to

help these patients. Thanks to all of you who have supported

PSI through the years. I count on your continued support

moving forward.

Art WoodCEOPatient Services, Inc.

“He leaves big shoes to fill. But they’re pointed in

the right direction.”Ed West - author

Patient Services, Inc. • P.O. Box 5930 • Midlothian, VA 23112 • 1-800-366-7741 • www.patientservicesinc.org

A Message from Tiara Green, Director of Operations and Program Reimbursement

As a patient assistance organization, it has been our long-standing goal to lead patients to

positive outcomes. Over the last 29 years, we (Patient

Services, Inc.) have done so by acting as a safety net and

assisting with the cost of health insurance premiums,

copayments for healthcare and medications, and travel

to and from treatment facilities. A recent report from

Avalere Health* found that PSI assistance reduces patient

out-of-pocket costs for medication, improves medication

adherence, and lowers Medicare costs through reduced

medical spending. Furthermore, every $1,000 provided

by PSI annually to Medicare Part D beneficiaries

allows those patients to fill an average of 3.5 additional

prescriptions. While this report focuses on how patient

assistance affects those with Medicare, we continue to fill

the gap for patients with various insurance types.

We understand that navigating the healthcare system and health

insurance can be overwhelming. Thus, we aim to provide patients with a

road map for success. To extend the support that we offer patients each day,

PSI is proud to introduce the Patient Access Lounge – a place where we

can be your PAL along the healthcare journey. Led by our Patient Access

Specialists, we hope that patients will join us in the Lounge, as we provide

educational videos and interviews on various healthcare topics and equip

you with information to make informed healthcare decisions. To view this

content, we encourage patients to visit our social media pages – Facebook,

YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter using @psi4patients.

* Avalere Report: http://go.avalere.com/acton/attachment/12909/f-0548/1/-/-/-/-/Avalere%20Patient%20OOP%20Assistance%20Part%20D%20Analysis.pdf

Our fifth annual Evening of Hope event returns September 19, 2018. Be sure to follow this

year’s fun on our social media platforms:

■ Facebook @PSI4Patients

■ Twitter @PSI4Patients

■ Instagram @PSI4Patients

Use the following hashtag: #PSIEofH2018

Also, we’re still seeking sponsors for Evening of Hope

and need your help to reach our sponsorship goal of

$75,000.

Please visit our website www.patientservicesinc.

org/who-we-are/evening-of-hope to learn more about

the event and how you can get involved. Contact Mandy

Herbert, Director of Community Outreach, at maherbert@

uneedpsi.org to become a sponsor.

This will certainly be an evening to remember!

2018 Evening of Hope

Leading patients to positive outcomes

Patient Services, Inc. • P.O. Box 5930 • Midlothian, VA 23112 • 1-800-366-7741 • www.patientservicesinc.org

The patient voice is the most important piece. We are currently seeking written submissions to be featured on PSI’s

Patient Blog. Are you living with a chronic illness? Caring for someone living

with a chronic illness? Share your story with us today!

Here are some of our latest blog post submissions below:

■ Forgotten No More: Jose’s Fabry Diagnosis

(https://bit.ly/2KS4yrX)

■ Could There Be Hope on The Horizon for Sickle Cell Patients?

(https://bit.ly/2MAHprP)

Thank you for sharing your story and advocating for PSI.

Beyond PSI Campaign Here at PSI, we’re passionate about the patient and the person.

Introducing the “Beyond PSI” blog series! We want to highlight

how you live beyond your illness.

Are you a Singer? Painter? Blogger? Author?

We want to get to know you and share your awesome work

with the rest of our PSI family and friends. Share your story with

us today!

#ThankfulThursdaysHave a kind message for PSI?

Submit a high-resolution photo of yourself along with your

personal testimony and thank-you message. Your message may

be featured across our social media platforms or even read in a

video by our CEO Art Wood.

PSI’s Patient

If you are interested in participating in any of the these initiatives, email

Brittany Nicholson, PSI Coordinator of Social Media at

bnicholson@uneedpsi.org

Patient Services, Inc. • P.O. Box 5930 • Midlothian, VA 23112 • 1-800-366-7741 • www.patientservicesinc.org

An Opportunity for Meaningful InteractionBrittany Nicholson, Coordinator of Social Media at PSI, is

looking forward to the launch of this new YouTube series and the

meaningful interaction between PSI and their patients that can

come with it.

“I’m most looking forward to receiving feedback from our

patients. It’s been such a fun, collaborative effort, and everyone

involved is equally excited and passionate about it. One of our

main priorities is to provide valuable information to our patients

in a fun, relatable and engaging way. We’re really hoping we can

positively impact our patients with this new content and provide

them with the tools necessary to successfully navigate the ins and

outs of healthcare.”

Patients can also help shape future episodes of The PSI

Patient Access Lounge by submitting their own health insurance

questions to Brittany Nicholson, PSI Coordinator of Social Media

at bnicholson@uneedpsi.org.

PSI Staff is excited to announce the launch

of a new online video series aimed at educating PSI patients. The

weekly series, which will release a new episode on the PSI You

Tube channel every Wednesday at 11 a.m. Eastern time, is called

The PSI Patient Access Lounge. The first episode aired on July

11, 2018.

What Is The Patient Access Lounge?Navigating the ins and outs of healthcare can be difficult,

and Patient Services Inc. believes as an organization that it is

important to equip patients with the information they need to

make informed health decisions. The PSI Patient Access Lounge

(PAL) will aim to do just that.

PAL is a video mini-series where people will learn about

various health insurance topics and will be hosted by PSI’s own

Patient Access Specialists, Amy and Jasmine.

Recently, co-host Jasmine shared on a PSI social media post, a

window into what types of topics the audience can expect:

“Our mini-series is going to include topics like when to apply

for insurance, the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, and

how to read an explanation of benefits.”

Complementing PSI’s online strategy, which earlier this

spring launched a new patient blog (www.patientservicesinc.

org/category/patient-blog) where patients have an opportunity

to share their story, The Patient Access Lounge will be a great fit

in helping drive PSI’S overall goal of leading patients to positive

health outcomes.

This new mini-series is dedicated to helping PSI patients make

informed health decisions.

Amy and Jasmine host PSI’s new mini-series.

PSI’s New Online Video Series The Patient Access Lounge

Patient Services, Inc. • P.O. Box 5930 • Midlothian, VA 23112 • 1-800-366-7741 • www.patientservicesinc.org

Over 50 patient advocates from all over the United

States fanned out across Capitol Hill on a beautiful spring day in April

to educate and inform their

elected representatives about

the importance of patient as-

sistance and specifically of the

need for premium and copay-

ment assistance. PSI Advocacy

Day strives to facilitate our

patients connecting with mem-

bers of Congress and their staff

to describe their experience and

put a face to patient assistance.

Our advocates are determined

and dedicated individuals who understand and share PSI’s mission and

vision and who proudly advocated for continued access to care through

charitable assistance.

The focus of these Congressional meetings was to advance HR

3976, the Access to Marketplace Insurance Act. Introduced by Con-

gressman Kevin Cramer (R-ND), this bill protects access to premium

and cost-sharing assistance by overturning an ill-advised rule by the

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The rule provides

a permission slip to health insurance providers in the federal and state

Marketplace Exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to

PSI Advocacy Day a Smashing Success;HR 3976 Is Moving Closer to SuccessBy James Romano, Director of Government Relations

PSI CEO Art Wood presents the PSI Patient Champion Award at

PSI’s Advocacy Day Reception to Representative Buddy Carter (R-GA).

Representative John Faso (R-NY) with PSI Advocates.Representative Krysten Sinema (D-AZ) with PSI Advocates.

prohibit premium and cost-sharing

assistance. In typical fashion, the

health insurance industry has uti-

lized this regulation as cover to ex-

pand this prohibition into other

insurance markets including Supplemental/Medigap, Group, and

COBRA markets. Health insurance providers do not want to allow

patients with rare or chronic illnesses onto their plans and will use

every tool in their arsenal to prevent this from happening. The health

insurance industry places profits ahead of the lives of our patients, and

it is our job to tell lawmakers the importance of patient assistance.

The successful day had our advocates meet with over 125

Congressional offices, and so far, these efforts have gained approximately

40 cosponsors onto the Access to Marketplace Insurance Act. PSI

is very proud to state that our advocacy efforts have netted 164 co-

sponsors so far, and the list is growing every day. Our next steps are

to gain a majority of the majority party, which can work to move the

legislation forward. Although we have done great work, we still need

your help to get more representatives signed on to HR 3976. Please

go to the PSI website at www.patientservicesinc.org/advocacy to

become a PSI Advocacy Ambassador and make your voice heard. With

your help, we can push back this unfortunate policy and ensure access

for all patients. If you have any questions, please contact me directly at

jromano@uneedpsi.org.

Patient Services, Inc. • P.O. Box 5930 • Midlothian, VA 23112 • 1-800-366-7741 • www.patientservicesinc.org

Letters From PSI Patients

* PSI has obtained consent to disclose patient names and stories in all literature and marketing materials. Patients who wish to share their story and/or image are required to sign a legal authorization form granting permission. A patient may revoke their authorization at any time by notifying Patient Services, Inc. in writing.

Patient’sCorner

To Whom This May Concern,

My name is Jimmy and I live in Montana. I would like to take a little time to tell you my story about PSI. Back In 2001 when I was 54 years old, I had worked for a major appliance store for 27 years. I had been married 34 years. Dr. Dierich of Advanced Neurology Specialists here in Montana said that there was nothing that they could do for me because I had torn apart the inner lining of my right carotid artery. That’s the story that I’ve been told by both the doctor and my wife. There were six doctors in my hospital room when the head doctor told my wife that there was nothing that they could do for me. At that time, one of the doctors spoke up and said that there was a procedure that he had done twice. One time it failed, one time went okay. My wife gave them permission to do the procedure. They started a little before noon and finished about 2:30 the next morning. I still have an inoperable aneurysm deep in my brain. I take 9 pills in the morning and 11 at night. I also at times have to take pain pills and head pills as needed, however, this is when I try to do too much.

The medicine that PSI has been helping us with is a cap 20-10mg. PSI has been a God-send for me! The wife and I get only our Social Security and Medicare. Thank you!

Jimmy S.

Dear PSI,

I discovered a new medication in early 2014. I researched the medication very extensively because it appeared to have promise to help a very serious problem that I had struggled with since July of 1962. I would like you to know that the medication you are assisting me with has truly become a miracle for me. It has continued to work consistently and without any problems. It is the only drug of its kind that is available. I was in an automobile accident when I was 15 and had a severe head injury and was unconscious for 7 days. The aftermath of the severe concussion caused a severe brain fog problem for my entire adult life (I am now 71 years old) until I found the right drug to treat my condition. Between the years of 1962 and 2014 I saw many doctors and had many brain tests and tried many of the latest medications as they became available. Nothing helped until I discovered a new treatment in 2014. That medication has solved my long term mental fog problems. The mental fog resulted in a lifetime of depression and multiple emotional problems which at times came close to suicide. My neurologist is amazed at the success of the medication. I tried stopping the medication for 4 or 5 days a couple of times to see what would happen. The result was that the old concussion “mental fog” aftermath started returning after 2 days and was very bad again by 5 days. I began the medication again and the problems went away as before. I have 52 years of experience and insight into what professional and amateur athletes are going through as the result of brain concussions. I spent 52 years going through the emotional “hell” caused by a brain concussion. Possibly it could be of help for other concussion victims. I could not personally afford to buy the medication without financial assistance.

With regards and appreciation, Danny

Patient Services, Inc. • P.O. Box 5930 • Midlothian, VA 23112 • 1-800-366-7741 • www.patientservicesinc.org

We Want to Hear from You!If you would like to have a testimonial about your

experience with PSI highlighted in an upcoming newsletter, please submit your story via our website.

www.patientservicesinc.org/patients/testimonials

To Whom It May Concern, My name is Linda Henderson, and I am 73 years old. Six years ago, I went to my primary care doctor for my annual physical. The day after my blood work results came back, I received a call from the doctor advising me that I had an appointment at the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Nevada. I was told that my white blood cell count was extremely high and that is a sign of Leukemia. I had always wondered how I would feel if I was told that I had cancer, and I soon found out. To say I was rattled is an understatement. Further testing confirmed that I have Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML), and I was immediately put on a drug that was developed in 2000 for the treatment of AIDS patients. Researchers found that it also worked with my type of Leukemia. I started treatment and I am happy to report that it has worked, and I have had two plus years of lab tests showing a BCR/ABL Negative indicator. That is the good news. The bad news is even the generic of my drug costs the insurance company $9,000 for a 30-day supply. My copay is $480 per month. My husband and I are retired on a fixed income. Without the assistance of Patient Services, Inc., we would be greatly impacted if I had to start paying the monthly copay for my medication. Since I have CML, I have to take medication for the rest of my life. I am just one of many millions of people who have chronic diseases. Sadly, many do not even have access to medical services due to our government’s efforts to eliminate the Affordable Care Act and Medicaid. Soon I fear they will do the same for Medicare. There also does not seem to be any effort to reduce the high costs of drugs that our country pays in comparison to nearly every other country on the planet where the identical drug is available for a fraction of our cost. The government-imposed rules on PSI in March 2017 are just another example of their efforts to hurt middle and low-income people, who with no fault of their own find themselves in a situation where they cannot afford their life-saving medications without the type of assistance PSI has provided for me. I hope that PSI continues to fight for what’s right. I will do everything I can to support them in this effort.

Sincerely, Linda Henderson

Dear PSI, I am writing today in hope of help-ing others understand the importance of programs offered by organizations such as Patient Services Incorporated. I can speak only for myself, however I have known oth-ers who have been helped in the same way I have been helped. My wife and I are senior citizens on lim-ited income, mostly Social Security. The re-cent cost of living increase to our combined income from Social Security amounted to a whopping $3.00 per month. With ever in-creasing costs of medical care and prescrip-tions, that increase has shown little benefit for our household. Because of our ages and my medical condition, we cannot work for extra income. I am grateful to PSI for the financial help that I have been blessed to have made available to me. Without that help, I could not have the medication and medical care my illness requires in order to maintain any quality of life. It is my hope these charitable contribu-tions can continue, not only for me, but also for others whose lives have been impacted by serious illness. Sincerely, Richard W.

You Can Now Share Your Story Online! Your words have the power to restore hope and health to patients and caregivers in need. The PSI staff

encourages you to share your personal story today to let others know that they aren’t alone. You, along with the PSI staff and community, are here to encourage and lift others up in their time of need.

If you have a story of your own, please feel free to securely submit it (as well as pictures) online atwww.patientservicesinc.org/patients/testimonials.

Patient Services, Inc. • P.O. Box 5930 • Midlothian, VA 23112 • 1-800-366-7741 • www.patientservicesinc.org

What if PSI earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Well, now it can! PSI is a designated charity with www.goodshop.com/give. GoodShop.com is a Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half of its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it as you would any search engine, get quality searches from Yahoo! and watch the donations add up.

Just go to www.goodshop.com/give and enter Patient Services as the charity you’d like to support by following the steps in the breakout box to your right. The money raised through GoodShop will be used to support our programs and will help us serve more chronically ill patients. As with any search

Earn Money to Help Support PSI Programs, Just by Searching the Internet

How to goodshopGIVE1. Log on to www.goodshop.com/give2. Select “Support a Cause”3. Enter “Patient Services” in the field labeled “Who do you want

to help?”4. From the list populated, select “Patient Services – PSI”5. Shop away!

engine, outside advertisers may leverage your searching habits to tailor ads to your interests. Please note to use this site honestly. Fraudulent searches will result in PSI being delisted.

PSI Advocacy AmbassadorsBy Kyle Rosner, Associate Director of Government Relations

PSI’s Advocacy Ambassador program, a coalition for patients, family, friends, caregivers, and anyone

else interested in helping PSI’s advocacy mission to support

and protect patient assistance, is growing rapidly with close to

300 Ambassadors signed on since April.

In May, we released our first newsletter, which you can

access here. (If viewing this article offline, please contact me

at krosner@uneedpsi.org for a copy of the recent Advocacy

Ambassador newsletter.) We recently held a Facebook Live

session on Wednesday, July 18, at 5:30 p.m. to bring everyone

up to date on our latest advocacy efforts, as well as answer any

questions folks had.

If you are interested in viewing future sessions, you can

find more information on the PSI Advocacy Ambassador

Facebook group page. If you haven’t already, visit www.

patientservicesinc.org/advocacy to become a PSI Advocacy

Ambassador. Ambassadors receive exclusive updates on PSI

advocacy, have unique opportunities to share their story, and

connect with other Ambassadors.

A coalition for anyone interested in helping PSI’s advocacy mission

to support and protect patient assistance.

goodshopGive