Organization
HealthWell Foundation: what they fund and how to apply
The HealthWell Foundation is a US nonprofit that helps insured people pay the out-of-pocket cost of prescribed medication. Its Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Fund was open when we checked it on July 27, 2026, with a maximum award of $15,000 per 12 month grant period. You need an ALS diagnosis, insurance that covers your medication, treatment in the United States, and household income within 500 percent of the federal poverty level.
How to use this page
This is a page about drug costs, nothing else. Copay assistance means a charity pays the share of a prescription that your insurance leaves you to pay. It is not equipment money. If you came looking for help with a wheelchair, a ramp, a hospital bed or paid caregiving hours, go straight to what they do not cover and then to our financial resources page.
What they provide
Everything below comes from HealthWell’s own ALS fund page, read on July 27, 2026. Terms change without notice, so open that page before you rely on any of it.
Copay assistance for ALS medications
This is the main thing the fund does. It pays your share of the cost of prescribed ALS drugs, the copayments, coinsurance and deductibles your insurance leaves behind. The published maximum award is $15,000 for a 12 month grant period.
HealthWell also publishes what people actually use. On this fund, they estimate patients use an average of $2,500 during their 12 month grant period. The $15,000 is a ceiling, not a payout.
Premium assistance, but only with Medicare Part B
The same fund can pay insurance premiums. HealthWell states that to qualify for premium assistance through this fund you must have Medicare Part B.
Copay help is broader. For copay assistance you need some form of insurance that covers part of the treatment cost, which HealthWell lists as private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid or TriCare. So a person on commercial insurance can get copay help from this fund but not premium help.
A pharmacy card, plus reimbursement for what you already paid
The payment type on this fund is a pharmacy card. HealthWell says approved patients receive both a HealthWell Pharmacy Card and a Reimbursement Request Form.
They ask you to use the pharmacy card at the counter wherever you can, rather than paying and claiming it back. For premiums, they ask for monthly reimbursement claims even when the premium is paid every two weeks.
There is no minimum reimbursement amount on this fund for either copays or premiums.
The exact medications this fund covers
HealthWell lists the treatments covered by the ALS fund by name. If your drug is not on this list, the fund will not pay for it, even with an ALS diagnosis. As published on July 27, 2026:
Abobotulinumtoxina, Amitriptyline Hcl, Atropine, Creatine, Dextromethorphan Hydrobromide and Quinidine Sulfate, Dysport, Edaravone, Elavil, Exservan, Filgrastim, Mexiletine Hcl, Neupogen, Nuedexta, Qalsody, Radicava, Radicava ORS, Relyvrio, Rilutek, Riluzole, Sodium Phenylbutyrate and Taurursodiol, Tiglutik, Tofersen.
Note that the list covers symptom drugs as well as disease-modifying ones, so it is worth checking every prescription, not just the headline ALS drug.
Alerts for when the fund reopens
Each HealthWell fund has an alerts signup. You can ask for email or text and call alerts and be told the moment a closed fund reopens, which matters because reopened funds are claimed quickly.
Sign up on the real time fund alerts page.
Reapplying after 12 months
HealthWell states that for the ALS fund, patients may apply for replenishment within 12 months, subject to availability of funds.
Read that as conditional. A grant this year is not a promise of one next year, and the fund has to still be open when you come back.
Who is eligible
HealthWell publishes four requirements for this fund. All four have to be true at the same time.
- You are being treated for ALS, and the diagnosis is verified by the signature of a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant.
- You have insurance and it covers your medication. Private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and TriCare are all listed as acceptable for copay assistance.
- Your income falls within their guidelines. The published household income limit on this fund is 500 percent of the federal poverty level.
- You are receiving treatment in the United States. The requirement is about where treatment happens, not only where you live.
Two details that catch people out. The 500 percent figure is adjusted for household size and for high cost of living areas, so run the check rather than guessing. And HealthWell’s general guidance says it assists people at 300 to 500 percent depending on the fund, so the limit is fund by fund, not one number across the charity.
Premium assistance carries the extra condition above: Medicare Part B. Our own earlier pages said this fund required Medicare Parts A and B across the board. That was wrong, and we have corrected it here.
How to apply
The application is online and does not ask you to upload documents up front, but it does ask a lot of questions. Gather these before you start so you are not hunting for a policy number at 11pm.
- Open the ALS fund page and confirm the status still reads Open. If it says Closed, stop and sign up for alerts instead.
- Check that the specific drug you are prescribed appears on that fund’s treatments covered list.
- Have the patient’s contact details and full insurance information to hand, including the plan and policy numbers.
- Have the prescriber’s first and last name. HealthWell’s portal looks clinicians up by name.
- Have the patient’s Social Security number. HealthWell says it is collected to stop duplicate applications and is kept confidential.
- Decide which type of help you are asking for, copay or premium, because the form asks.
- Apply through the link on the fund page, or call the contact center number below and do it by phone.
- Send any grant documents to the P.O. Box address below. HealthWell asks that grant paperwork go there and not to the head office.
A clinic social worker or the pharmacy that fills the prescription can often submit this for you. If the person with ALS can no longer use a keyboard comfortably, ask.
What they do not cover
The assistance type on this fund is stated in one line: prescription drug copay, or insurance premium with Medicare Part B. Everything outside that line is a no.
- Equipment. No wheelchairs, hoyer lifts, hospital beds, shower chairs, ramps or speech devices.
- Home modifications. Bathroom conversions and doorway widening are not prescription costs.
- Paid care hours or respite. Home health aides and personal care attendants sit outside this fund.
- Transport to clinic. Some HealthWell funds carry travel help. This one is copay and premium only.
- People with no insurance. HealthWell says it refers patients without prescription insurance to other programs, such as drug company patient assistance programs.
- Drugs not on the fund list, and treatment received outside the United States.
- Premiums, if you do not have Medicare Part B, even when your copay application is approved.
For the things on that list, the money comes from somewhere else. Start with our financial resources page and free medical equipment, and ask your ALS clinic about loan closets before you buy anything.
The fund may be closed by the time you read this
Copay funds run out of money. On July 27, 2026 HealthWell listed 93 disease funds, of which 32 were open and 61 were closed. The ALS fund was open that day. It may not be tomorrow.
HealthWell describes closed funds as temporarily closed to new patients because of insufficient funding, and says they reopen when replenished. If you already hold a grant, they say it stays active for the full 12 month cycle or until the money is used, whichever comes first, and your pharmacy card keeps working.
So two rules. Apply the day you find it open, not the weekend after. And if it is closed, set the alert rather than checking manually.
Contact
These are the routes HealthWell publishes on its own contact page, checked July 27, 2026.
- Contact center: (800) 675-8416, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm Eastern.
- Fax: (800) 282-7692.
- Grant documents by mail: HealthWell Contact Center, P.O. Box 489, Buckeystown, MD 21717.
- Head office: 20440 Century Blvd, Suite 250, Germantown, MD 20874.
- Online: the ALS fund page, the full disease funds list, and guidance for patients.
- Main site: healthwellfoundation.org.
HealthWell publishes email addresses for grant, claims and portal questions on that contact page. We have not reproduced them here because they are obscured on the live page, so read them there.
Related pages
We are not affiliated with the HealthWell Foundation. We describe them here as a resource for families dealing with ALS, and we receive nothing if you apply. Fund status, award amounts, covered medications and eligibility rules change often. Everything here was read from HealthWell’s own website on July 27, 2026. Confirm current terms with them directly. Educational content only, not financial, medical or legal advice.