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Meet the Mokdad Family

Read Andra's Story
 

Andra Mokdad and her daughter Ariel are thankful– for each other and for the opportunities that charitable patient assistance has offered their family.  

In 1984 Andra suffered from an ectopic pregnancy that required an emergency blood transfusion. No one could imagine that the hospital would unknowingly infect Andra with hepatitis C. Several years later, Andra, with the help of in vitro fertilization, would give birth to Ariel at 26-weeks.

It took more than 30 years to realize this mistake, during which Andra and her husband would proudly watch as their daughter grew into a passionate and accomplished performance artist, educator, poet and choreographer. Ariel, who goes by Ari, is a PhD candidate and graduate teaching assistant in the English Department at Wayne State University in her hometown of Detroit, Michigan. Her most recent publication, Elemental, was a recipient of a Michigan Notable Book Award. 

Ari’s father looked forward to spending more time with his family when he went into retirement. There was no way to foresee the potentially devastating illness that was about to threaten their family’s financial wellbeing. 

When Andra’s health began to fail, her medical team soon realized that she had been infected with hepatitis C for several decades. Most people who get infected with hepatitis C will develop a chronic or lifelong infection. Left untreated, it can cause serious health problems including liver disease, liver failure, and even liver cancer. Before 1990, widespread screening of the blood supply was not common and hepatitis C could be spread through blood transfusions and organ transplants. Fortunately, once diagnosed, most people with hepatitis C can be cured in just 8 to 12 weeks, reducing the risk of liver cancer by 75 percent. 

Unfortunately, Andra’s treatments would cost thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses. Despite having health insurance, Andra’s family soon realized they would need to consider liquidating their assets to access the treatment she needed. 

“We had to consider every option, my mother’s well-being is worth more than any possession or monetary number. We had no idea what we were going to do to get my mother this treatment,” says Ari. 

When Andra’s doctor’s office explained that she might be eligible for assistance through Good Days, Andra and her family became hopeful. Andra qualified and received assistance through Good Days and she is now cured of hepatitis C. Andra is extremely grateful for the priceless gift Good Days’ support gave her. More time with her daughter.

“Ari is the biggest part of my story. She is our greatest gift,” says Andra. 

PARTNER PROFILE 

UNITED FOR CHARITABLE ASSISTANCE

For decades, charities have been helping patients in the most difficult circumstances with premium, copayment, travel, and other forms of assistance with healthcare costs. While these mission-driven charities, civic groups and houses of worship provide this support voluntarily and on the basis of available donations, they have become a crucial and irreplaceable part of the healthcare safety net. Individuals living with rare, chronic and life-threatening illnesses sometimes rely on non-profit patient assistance programs to help cover the high costs of their health insurance. At no added cost to the public, these programs ensure patients have access to the treatments and services they need to manage their conditions and lead productive lives. These charities protect the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients every year. 

Good Days, along with patient community leaders from more than 20 national patient advocacy organizations, have come together to form the United for Charitable Assistance (UCA) coalition, a patient-led, patient-focused group dedicated to education, advocacy and awareness about the importance of non-profit charitable assistance to patients and their families. We are honored to have our Chief Operating Officer Randie Odebralski serve as the inaugural UCA Executive Chairman. Randie is joined on the executive committee by the coalition’s President Tony Castaldo, US Hereditary Angioedema Association; Vice President Katie Kroner, Pulmonary Hypertension Association; and Vice Chair, Jonathan James, Hope for Hemophilia. 

United for Charitable Assistance and its members oppose any effort by public or private payers to curb access to lawful charitable assistance. As policymakers, public and private payers, manufacturers and other stakeholders consider solutions to lower health costs, they should not take any action that undermines the availability of charitable assistance to the patients who currently rely on it for access to health care. We are working to formalize the current regulatory framework for charitable assistance by establishing a formal Department of Health and Human Services rule or codified law. 

We need your help in ensuring that charitable assistance programs remain available for people who find themselves underinsured when faced with a chronic or rare illness. Policymakers need to hear from real people who have real challenges and received real help from organizations like ours. 

If you want to share your story, please email us at marketing@mygooddays.org. We want to make sure your voice is heard!   

SPECIAL FEATURE

JULY 10, 2019

 

National Chronic Disease Day is just around the corner! Last year was our biggest year yet, with more than 20 states recognizing Chronic Disease Day on July 10th through Governor-endorsed proclamations. That success was because people like you got involved and supported our proclamation request drive. 

This year we hoping to have every state join us! If you would like to ensure your hometown recognizes Chronic Disease Day, email us at 
ChronicDiseaseDay@MyGoodDays.org and we will send you a free Chronic Disease Day t-shirt! 

We recognize National Chronic Disease Day on 7/10 because seven out of ten Americans succumb to chronic illness each year. It is an inclusive recognition that brings together individual patients, caregivers, family members, healthcare teams, workplaces and communities to share experiences and consider ways to help ourselves and each other. 

This year we are increasing our efforts by offering new online resources including self-care tip-cards that highlight everyone’s opportunities to extend their quality of life, reduce individual health risks and lower overall healthcare costs. Alarmingly, we need this awareness day more than ever. Cancers fueled by obesity are on the rise among young adults and are appearing at increasingly younger ages according to the American Cancer Society. The financial costs are likewise overwhelming, with the Centers for Disease Control estimating that 90 percent of the nation’s $3.3 trillion in annual healthcare spending goes to people with chronic and mental health conditions.

Visit ChronicDiseaseDay.org to access more resources and learn how you can get involved. 

What's New?

New Office Location:

• 
  Good Days has a new mailing address! We are now headquartered at 

2611 Internet Blvd. Ste. 105, Frisco, TX 75034.

• Good Days has partnered with Uber Health to provide reliable, comfortable transportation to patients and their caregivers so that getting to and from medical appointments is never a barrier to access to care.

A WORD FROM GOOD DAYS' PRESIDENT

CLORINDA WALLEY

I hope you are enjoying the longer days and relishing the warmer weather as spring turns to summertime.

We know that financial stress linked to chronic health conditions looms heavily for many people across the country, interfering with time that should be spent enjoying the changing seasons and company of loved ones. Worrying about how to pay for treatments that will extend or drastically improve a person’s quality of life leads families to consider dreadful choices.

From our Board of Directors and Executive Leadership through our team of Care Navigators, Good Days truly understands the challenges and choices that families are forced to confront when it comes to access to care. It drives us to stretch our resources so that we can help as many individuals as possible. With demand for our programs on the rise, we have established partnerships with private and public organizations this year that will deepen the reach and impact that Good Days can offer. 

To further support individuals in need of financial assistance, counseling and comprehensive resources for pediatric and adult cancer, we’re working with our friends at the Bone Marrow & Cancer Foundation to access unique and innovative offerings, including AirBnB’s Open Homes program so that patients with cancer of all types have access to free housing when traveling for treatment. 

We recently announced a referral partnership with Legacy Counseling Center to leverage our new HIV/AIDS prevention and assistance fund in fighting HIV/AIDS in our hometown region of Dallas, Texas, where it continues to pose major challenges to public health. 

And we are excited to announce that Good Days is partnering with Uber Health to provide reliable, comfortable transportation to patients and to the caregivers they need. Uber Health leverages the ride-hailing power of the Uber platform to ensure getting to and from care is never a barrier. Look out for more details to come on our social media and website on how to access this new resource. We look forward to announcing additional partnerships that complement our financial assistance programs in the months ahead.

With the need for access to care as great as ever, your continued support is integral to expanding the safety net we provide when individuals and families need it most. Thank you for your support.  

Sincerely,

Clorinda Walley, President

Good Days