You pay for insurance—so why are patients still being denied medication?

In this important episode, Jonathan James sits down with healthcare policy advocate Kim Czubaruk to unpack Alternative Funding Programs (AFPs), how they work, and why more patients are facing treatment delays, denials, and confusion while still paying for coverage.

They discuss how some employer-sponsored health plans exclude specialty medications or trigger behind-the-scenes denials while steering patients into outside vendor programs. Kim explains why this can create dangerous gaps in care, emotional distress, and added burdens for families already managing chronic illness.

Topics include:

• What Alternative Funding Programs are
• Why patients can be denied while insured
• Treatment delays and access barriers
• Impact on bleeding disorders, cancer, and chronic illness
• Employer plan risks and responsibilities
• What advocates are doing to fight back

If you’ve ever battled insurance for medication access, this episode is for you.

🎧 Hit play, share this episode with someone navigating insurance challenges, and don’t forget to follow. Every listen helps us bring patient-first conversations on healthcare access to more people who need them.

Hope Charities is a national nonprofit focused on helping people living with rare and chronic illnesses thrive. Our programs specialize in helping people with genetic bleeding disorders and #hemophilia navigate the challenges of invisible disease by providing emotional, educational, and tangible support. To learn more about our programs, visit our website www.hope-charities.org. 

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