Protecting Copay Assistance

Insurance companies increasingly use co-pay “accumulator” programs to pocket funds intended to help patients pay for their medications, without crediting these payments to the patient’s deductible or cost-sharing requirements. These programs take the assistance funds but continue to charge patients as if they have not been paid. Accumulators divert patient assistance’s original intent and drive up their overall healthcare costs. These policies cause grave hardship for those who can least afford it, the low-income chronically ill.