HealthWell Foundation Grants 2026: Open Funds and Limits

If your fund is closed, don't pay anyone who says they can get you in. Sign up for HealthWell's free fund alerts and check the bigger levers below, especially the Medicare Part D out-of-pocket cap.

HealthWell Foundation Grants: What They Pay and Who Qualifies

According to HealthWell's What We Do page, the charity awarded more than $1.1 billion in grants in 2025 and has helped more than 1,390,000 patients since 2004. It works through disease funds. Each fund covers one condition (or a related group) and a list of treatments, and each has its own status, maximum award and income limit.

You generally qualify if all five of these are true:

1. HealthWell has a fund for your diagnosis, and your treatment is on that fund's list. HealthWell's Medication Lookup tool on its patients page lets you search by drug name, disease or diagnosis code.
2. You have health insurance that covers part of the treatment. Private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare all count. Funds with "Medicare Access" in the name take Medicare patients only.
3. Your household income is within the fund's limit, which ranges from 200% to 500% of the federal poverty level.
4. You're treated in the United States. HealthWell has a separate rule for Puerto Rico and other territories (see the income section).
5. The fund is open on the day you apply, or it's a re-enrollment fund and you had a grant before.

What the money covers depends on the fund's "assistance type." Grantsights' count of the 93 fund pages: 78 offer prescription copay help or Medicare Part B premium help, 12 cover prescription copays only, 2 cover travel, and 1 covers ACA Marketplace insurance premiums. Grantsights' count of payment types: 89 funds pay through a HealthWell pharmacy card, 3 through a non-pharmacy card and 1 through a virtual card, and you can also be reimbursed by sending a form with proof of payment. None of the 93 fund pages listed a minimum reimbursement amount.

This isn't a loan, and it doesn't pay old hospital bills. If your problem is a bill that's already arrived, start with the guide to help with medical bills, which covers hospital charity care and your billing rights.

Which HealthWell Disease Funds Are Open on November 10, 2026

Only 31% of HealthWell's funds (29 of 93) were accepting new patients when Grantsights checked on November 10, 2026. The split is sharper for Medicare: just 8 of the 39 Medicare Access funds were open. Here's a cross-section of both groups, with each fund's own figures. HealthWell's "average use" is its estimate of what patients spend from that fund over 12 months; for Medicare Access funds it's a forecast that HealthWell says reflects the Inflation Reduction Act's Part D out-of-pocket cap.

Other open funds on the list that day: Alagille Syndrome Vitamins and Supplements, ANCA-Associated Vasculitis, Blepharitis, Congenital Sucrase-Isomaltase Deficiency, Cushing's Disease or Syndrome, Cytomegalovirus Disease, Dupuytren's Disease, Emergency/Medical Workers Behavioral Health, Hyperoxaluria, Inborn Metabolic or Genetic Bile Acid Deficiency Vitamins and Supplements, Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis, Myelodysplastic Syndromes Medicare Access, Neurocognitive Disease with Psychosis Medicare Access, Oncology Caregiver Behavioral Health (phone applications only), Ovarian Cancer Medicare Access, Peyronie's Disease, Porphyrias, Schizophrenia Medicare Access and Tardive Dyskinesia Medicare Access. Closed funds that day included Asthma, Hepatitis C, Migraine, Sickle Cell Disease, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Type 2 Diabetes, Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Medicare Access and Colorectal Carcinoma Medicare Access.

Treat this table as a snapshot, not a promise. The HealthWell disease fund list (opens in a new tab) is the only place that shows today's status.

How HealthWell Fund Openings and Closings Work

Closed is the normal state for most HealthWell funds: 64 of 93 were closed on November 10, 2026. HealthWell's disease fund page explains that a closed fund is "temporarily closed to new patients due to lack of sufficient funding," and that replenished funds reopen as quickly as possible. There are three statuses to know:

• Open: taking new applications now.
• Re-enrollment: open only to patients who had and used a HealthWell grant before.
• Closed: no new patients. If you already have a grant from that fund, HealthWell says it stays active for the full 12-month cycle or until you've used your allocated amount, whichever comes first, and you can keep using your pharmacy card or submitting reimbursements.

Grantsights didn't find a waitlist on HealthWell's patient pages. What HealthWell offers instead is Real-Time Fund Alerts (opens in a new tab), a free sign-up for email, text or automated call notices when funds change status. If you already use HealthWell's patient, provider or pharmacy portal, HealthWell asks you to sign up for alerts inside that portal.

Here's how to use alerts well. Sign up for every fund that could cover your diagnosis, not only the obvious one. When an alert arrives, apply the same day; reopened funds can close again once the new money is committed. Ask your pharmacy or provider's office to watch too, since staff can apply for you through HealthWell's portals. And if your disease has no fund at all, HealthWell's patients page invites you to submit a request for a new disease fund.

A common mistake is reading "closed" as "rejected." It isn't. It only means there's no money in that fund today, and your application later is judged the same way.

Income Limits: What 500% of the Poverty Level Means in 2026

HealthWell's poverty-level page says each fund's limit is 300%, 400% or 500% of the federal poverty level, and the fund pages Grantsights checked add one fund at 200% (ACA Marketplace premiums). Of the 93 fund pages, 91 used 500%, one used 300% (Type 2 Diabetes) and one used 200%. HealthWell also says it considers household size and, for high-cost areas, a cost-of-living index of 120 or above. For Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories, it uses only the 400% and 500% limits, depending on the fund.

Per the 2026 HHS poverty guidelines (opens in a new tab) for the 48 contiguous states and D.C., the table below shows what those percentages mean in dollars. Alaska and Hawaii have higher guidelines.

The closed Type 2 Diabetes fund's 300% limit works out to $47,880 for one person. These are Grantsights' calculations, not HealthWell's published cutoffs. HealthWell's own FPL calculator and household income worksheet decide eligibility, and a cost-of-living adjustment can raise your limit. Many middle-income households underestimate how high the 500% line sits. If you're a two-person household earning $90,000, you may still qualify.

Premium Help: Medicare Part B and the ACA Marketplace Fund

Premium help is the least understood part of HealthWell. Of the 93 funds, 78 list "Insurance premium (Medicare Part B only)" as an assistance type alongside drug copays. So a Medicare patient approved under, say, the Multiple Myeloma Medicare Access fund can ask for help with Part B premiums as well as drug copays, up to that fund's $8,000 maximum. HealthWell's forms page has a separate premium reimbursement form, and its fund pages ask you to submit premium claims monthly even if you pay every two weeks.

HealthWell also runs a separate ACA Marketplace Insurance Premium Assistance fund (opens in a new tab). Its rules on November 10, 2026: you must be enrolled in a Bronze, Silver, Gold or Platinum Marketplace plan, qualify for a Marketplace subsidy, and have household income within 200% of the poverty level. The maximum award is $2,000. It was closed that day.

If you're struggling with Medicare premiums every month, a charity grant is a stopgap. State Medicare Savings Programs can pay the Part B premium on an ongoing basis, and the guide to help for seniors walks through those programs. People under 65 on Medicare because of a disability can find related income support in the disability grants for individuals guide.

How to Apply for a HealthWell Grant

Applying takes 7 steps, from the manufacturer check to re-enrollment. HealthWell's patients page lists most of them:

1. Check the manufacturer first. HealthWell itself says drugmakers' assistance programs "often exceed" what nonprofit foundations can offer, especially for commercially insured patients. (Medicare rules limit those programs for Medicare patients; see the next sections.)
2. Confirm the fund is open on the disease fund list and use the Medication Lookup to confirm your treatment is covered under that diagnosis.
3. Gather what you'll need: your contact and insurance information, your prescriber's first and last name, the disease and treatment, whether you want copay or premium help, and your household size and income. HealthWell's fund pages say you'll be asked for a Social Security number to create a grant, which it uses to prevent duplicate applications.
4. Apply online through the patient portal or by phone at (800) 675-8416, Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. Provider offices, pharmacies and social workers applying for you must use HealthWell's provider or pharmacy portal.
5. Expect verification. HealthWell's fund pages say a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant must verify the diagnosis, and its forms page has a diagnosis verification form for applicants selected for review, plus a household size and income worksheet.
6. Use the grant. Once approved, you get a HealthWell pharmacy card and a reimbursement request form. Pay at the pharmacy with the card when you can; for anything else, send the copay or premium reimbursement form with proof of payment.
7. Re-enroll before the 12 months end. HealthWell's patients page says that after a rolling 12 months you can reapply if needed and if funding is available. A few funds allow mid-year top-ups; the ALS fund page, for example, says patients may apply for replenishment within 12 months subject to funds.

Two timing tips. Don't wait for the bill: if your fund is open, apply as soon as you have a prescription. And keep every receipt, because reimbursement only works for costs you can document.

Grantsights Analysis of HealthWell's 2025 Form 990

HealthWell reported $538,178,825 in grants to domestic individuals on its 2025 IRS Form 990 (Part IX, line 2), about 94% of its $573.6 million in total expenses. That was down from $570,236,144 on its 2024 return, a 5.6% drop. Revenue fell faster, from $911.5 million in 2024 to $559.9 million in 2025, per the two returns.

Grantsights analysis of Schedule I, Part III of the 2025 return, which breaks grants out by fund, shows where the money actually went:

• Medicare Access funds took 70%. The 24 Medicare Access fund lines added up to $379.3 million of the $538.2 million.
• Five funds took 59%. Specifically, HealthWell reported paying $85.4 million to 39,124 recipients through Multiple Myeloma Medicare Access, $80.2 million to 94,241 recipients through Hypercholesterolemia Medicare Access, $60.5 million to 83,064 recipients through Blepharitis, $59.3 million to 56,379 recipients through Cardiomyopathy Medicare Access, and $31.9 million to 23,149 recipients through Prostate Cancer Medicare Access.
• The typical payment was modest. Across all fund lines, HealthWell paid about $1,260 per recipient, counting a person once in each fund they used. Small funds were smaller still: the Gout Travel Fund paid $16,460 to 26 people, and the General Travel Fund paid $17,381 to 48.

Two lessons for applicants. First, the big funds are big because they're popular, so they burn through money and close. Three of the five largest funds in 2025 (Hypercholesterolemia, Cardiomyopathy and Prostate Cancer, all Medicare Access) were closed on November 10, 2026. Second, plan around the average, not the maximum. A fund that lists an $8,000 cap may cover a few thousand dollars of your actual costs.

Medicare Rules: Why a Charity Can Help When a Drugmaker Can't

Medicare Access funds account for 70% of HealthWell's 2025 grant dollars, and there's a legal reason Medicare patients lean on charities. The federal anti-kickback statute makes it a crime to offer anything of value to induce purchases that Medicare or Medicaid pays for. According to the HHS Office of Inspector General's September 2014 bulletin on manufacturer copayment coupons (opens in a new tab), drugmaker coupons used for drugs paid by a federal health care program, including Medicare Part D, implicate that statute. That's why manufacturer copay cards usually say they can't be used with Medicare or Medicaid.

Independent charities are treated differently. The OIG's 2005 Special Advisory Bulletin on patient assistance programs for Part D enrollees (opens in a new tab) said drugmakers can donate to bona fide independent charity programs if safeguards exist. Its May 30, 2014 supplemental bulletin on independent charity patient assistance programs (opens in a new tab) (79 Fed. Reg. 31120) tightened those safeguards. Per the 2014 bulletin, in plain terms:

• Donors can't directly or indirectly control the charity or its programs.
• Disease funds should follow widely recognized clinical standards and cover a broad range of products, not be drawn so narrowly that they mainly pay for a donor's drug.
• Financial need must be judged by a reasonable, verifiable and uniform measure applied consistently. Many charities use the federal poverty guidelines, and the cost of the drug alone isn't an appropriate stand-alone test.
• Charities typically give donors only aggregate reports, such as how many people applied, qualified and were paid, not data that ties grants to a donor's drugs.

HealthWell's compliance page says it operates under a favorable OIG advisory opinion issued in 2007, with modifications in 2011 and 2015, and that an independent third party sets each new fund's product list. For you, these rules explain two things: why funds are defined by disease rather than by brand, and why charity help can be available when a coupon isn't.

Bigger Levers Than a Copay Grant: The $2,100 Part D Cap and Extra Help

For Medicare drug costs, the federal cap now does more than any charity. According to Medicare.gov's Part D costs page (opens in a new tab), once your out-of-pocket spending on covered Part D drugs reaches $2,100 in 2026, you move to catastrophic coverage and pay nothing more for covered Part D drugs for the rest of the year. The cap rises to $2,400 in 2027. The same page says no Part D plan's deductible can exceed $615 in 2026 or $700 in 2027. Certain payments made on your behalf count toward the cap; OIG's 2005 bulletin notes that, under the Part D rules, cost-sharing help from a patient assistance program counts toward a beneficiary's true out-of-pocket costs.

That's why HealthWell's Medicare Access fund pages now show forecasted averages well below their maximums. Within one calendar year, a $4,000 Parkinson's grant can't be fully spent on Part D drugs when the law caps your share at $2,100, though it can still help with Part B costs and premiums.

Extra Help is the second lever. Medicare.gov's Extra Help page (opens in a new tab) lists 2026 limits of $23,940 in income and $18,090 in resources for an individual, and $32,460 in income and $36,100 in resources for a married couple. People who get Medicaid, a Medicare Savings Program or SSI qualify automatically. For 2027, the page lists no plan premium or deductible for Extra Help enrollees, with copays of up to $5.80 per generic and $14.40 per brand-name drug at participating pharmacies. If you're on SSI or think you might qualify, the SSI benefits guide explains the program; if your income is low enough for Medicaid, check your state in the Medicaid income limits guide.

Our view: if you're on Medicare and might qualify for Extra Help, apply for it before or alongside a HealthWell grant. Extra Help doesn't close when donations run low.

What HealthWell Doesn't Tell You

HealthWell's pages are clear and honest about fund status. A few things are easy to miss:

• "Awarded" isn't "paid." HealthWell's site says it awarded more than $1.1 billion in grants in 2025, while its 2025 Form 990 reports $538.2 million in grants paid to individuals. HealthWell doesn't explain the gap on the pages Grantsights checked. The fund pages suggest one reason: awards are ceilings, and patients spend less than the ceiling. In 61 of 92 funds with both figures, HealthWell's own average use was less than half the maximum award.
• Your diagnosis decides everything. If HealthWell has no fund for your condition, no amount of financial need will qualify you. The 2014 OIG bulletin is part of why: funds must be defined by disease, not by individual circumstances.
• Medicare patients face the tightest odds. Only 8 of 39 Medicare Access funds were open on November 10, 2026, even though those funds paid 70% of 2025 grant dollars.
• Re-enrollment is a status, not a guarantee. A fund in re-enrollment status won't take you if you've never had a grant from it.
• The phone line is automated first. HealthWell's What We Do page says its toll-free automated phone system handles more than 40,500 callers a month, so have your insurance card and prescriber's name ready before you call.
• Approval can come with a later check. You may be selected for diagnosis or income verification after approval. Keep your paperwork until the grant period ends.

Our take: HealthWell is one of the most transparent copay charities to research, because every fund page shows its cap, income limit and average use. Use those numbers to set realistic expectations before you build a budget around a grant.

HealthWell vs. PAN Foundation and Other Copay Charities

At least 3 other independent charities run disease-fund copay programs, and each one opens and closes funds as money comes in. The biggest change in 2026 involves PAN Foundation. Patient Advocate Foundation's merger site says the two organizations announced a merger in March 2026, and that since July 1, 2026, all new applications go through Patient Advocate Foundation's TotalAssist program. The PAN Foundation grants guide covers what that means for Medicare patients and what to do when a fund is closed.

TotalAssist's help center says its FundFinder service, a Patient Advocate Foundation program, tracks fund openings across eight financial assistance organizations. If you're watching several charities at once, that saves time.

Scams and Red Flags

The FTC's guidance is simple: real grants don't come with up-front fees. Its government grant scams page (opens in a new tab) warns that agencies don't contact people out of the blue about grants and that nobody legitimate asks for payment by gift card, wire transfer or cryptocurrency. The same logic applies to charity copay help. Watch for these red flags:

• Someone charges a fee to "file" or "expedite" a HealthWell application. You can apply yourself, for free, online or by phone.
• A caller says a closed fund has a "reserved spot" for a price. Fund status is public on HealthWell's site.
• A website asks for your Social Security number before you've reached HealthWell's own portal. Only enter it on HealthWell's site or with HealthWell's phone line.
• A message claims to be from HealthWell and asks you to pay to keep your grant active.

If you've paid a scammer, contact your bank or card company right away and report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov (opens in a new tab). For other urgent costs that a copay grant won't touch, the Grantsights eligibility checker can point you to official help: pick Individual, then Personal financial help, and it lists the USA.gov benefit finder (opens in a new tab), rental, utility and food help, plus the 211 line and the FTC's scam advice. It doesn't list disease foundations like HealthWell, so check those directly.

FAQ: HealthWell Foundation Grants

What does a HealthWell Foundation grant pay for? Copays, coinsurance and deductibles for drugs on a fund's list, plus Medicare Part B premiums in 78 of 93 funds. Some funds cover travel, home care or behavioral health. Grants last 12 months.

What is the HealthWell Foundation income limit? It's set per fund at 200% to 500% of the federal poverty level, and 91 of 93 funds use 500%. That's about $79,800 for one person in 2026, before any cost-of-living adjustment.

Which HealthWell funds are open right now? On November 10, 2026, 29 of 93 were open, including ALS, Multiple Myeloma Medicare Access and Parkinson's Disease Medicare Access. Check the live list the day you apply.

Do I need insurance to get a HealthWell grant? Yes, coverage that pays part of your treatment. Medicare Access funds are for Medicare patients only.

How long does a HealthWell grant last? Twelve months from approval, up to the fund's maximum. You can re-enroll if you still qualify and the fund has money.

Does HealthWell charge a fee to apply? Grantsights found no fee on HealthWell's pages. Anyone charging you to get a grant is a red flag.

Sources

1. HealthWell Foundation, Disease Funds list (opens in a new tab) (all 93 linked fund pages checked November 10, 2026)
2. HealthWell Foundation, Patients: eligibility, how to apply and how grants work (opens in a new tab)
3. HealthWell Foundation, Federal Poverty Level Guidelines (opens in a new tab)
4. HealthWell Foundation, Real-Time Fund Alerts (opens in a new tab)
5. HealthWell Foundation, Forms (opens in a new tab)
6. HealthWell Foundation, What We Do (opens in a new tab)
7. HealthWell Foundation, Compliance (opens in a new tab)
8. HealthWell Foundation, 2025 IRS Form 990 (opens in a new tab) and 2024 IRS Form 990 (opens in a new tab)
9. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer, HealthWell Foundation (EIN 20-0413676) (opens in a new tab)
10. HHS OIG, Special Advisory Bulletin on Patient Assistance Programs for Medicare Part D Enrollees (2005) (opens in a new tab)
11. HHS OIG, Supplemental Special Advisory Bulletin: Independent Charity Patient Assistance Programs (May 30, 2014) (opens in a new tab)
12. HHS OIG, Special Advisory Bulletin: Pharmaceutical Manufacturer Copayment Coupons (September 2014) (opens in a new tab)
13. HHS ASPE, 2026 Poverty Guidelines (opens in a new tab)
14. Medicare.gov, Costs for Medicare drug coverage (opens in a new tab)
15. Medicare.gov, Help with drug costs (Extra Help) (opens in a new tab)
16. Patient Advocate Foundation, Uniting for Patients (PAN Foundation merger) (opens in a new tab)
17. TotalAssist, Fund open notifications and FundFinder (opens in a new tab)
18. Good Days, Do I qualify? (opens in a new tab)
19. FTC, Government Grant Scams (opens in a new tab)