Charity Care Endowment

Charity Care Need in Northwest Arkansas

Circle of Life Foundation has an immediate need to fulfill our $5 million Charity Care Endowment. We have graciously received approximately $150,000 – $170,000 from a local foundation to fund a large portion of this program in past years. Due to their focus changes, healthcare access will no longer be one of their funding priorities.

A Charity Care Endowment will create a sustained source of funding that will enable Circle of Life to continue funding the expenses associated with care for those who are underinsured, uninsured, or have no financial resources.

The financial costs associated with hospice care can often be overwhelming for patients that do not qualify for Medicare or Medicaid. Even having health insurance doesn’t guarantee patients will be able to afford care. Circle of Life wants to ensure that everyone who meets eligibility and elects hospice care has access to services regardless of their financial situation through our Charity Care Program.

Who receives financial help through Charity Care?

Circle of Life offers charity care to patients who lack the means to pay for the hospice care they need and qualify financially. Charity Care is entirely funded by community donations to Circle of Life.

When patients need help paying for hospice care, it is often due to:

• Lack of any health insurance (often related to job loss, age, homelessness, or disability)
• Insufficient hospice benefit within their health insurance policy
• Depleted financial resources due to expensive curative treatment
• Inability to afford the out-of-pocket expenses of insurance, such as deductibles and copayments, without sacrificing basic needs like food, medicine, or housing

The true annual need for our Charity Care Program is approximately $300,000. Since Circle of Life’s inception in 2000, we have never turned a patient away from our services due to their lack of insurance or financial resources. To sustain access to patients in the future, Circle of Life must raise an additional $2.5 million to complete the Charity Care Endowment Fund.

Please consider supporting Charity Care with a gift to Circle of Life. Your investment will make it possible for us to continue to meet the growing needs of these most vulnerable patients in NWA.

Contact: Dee Vaughn, CFRE, Chief Development Officer, dvaughn@nwacircleoflife.org, (479)872-3359