SAN DIEGO, California, September 26, 2023 — Cancer for College has announced an innovative partnership with Goodroot that will expand its mission by helping families fighting pediatric cancer with their medical bills with a focus on alleviating or cancelling their medical debt.
Cancer for College (CFC) has provided need-based college scholarships and educational experiences to cancer survivors since 1993, awarding over $7 million in scholarships to more than 1,700 individuals. Goodroot is a community of healthcare-solution companies with industry-leading capabilities — including healthcare claim payment integrity, medical bill negotiation, hospital financial assistance optimization and more — that will now be at CFC’s disposal.
In addition to providing college funding for pediatric cancer survivors, partnering with Goodroot enables CFC to address the high medical costs and debt that often come with cancer treatment. Medical debt is the leading cause of bankruptcy and currently impacts more than 1 in 5 Americans.
“We’re proud to partner with Goodroot and leverage the expertise on healthcare affordability their team brings to the table,” said Cancer for College Founder, Craig Pollard. “The families we serve have been impacted physically, emotionally and financially by their cancer diagnosis. The support we provide gives hope to survivors and is vital toward helping them overcome the devastating aspects of fighting the disease.”
The Goodroot Foundation and community have donated over $1 million to CFC over the past five years. In addition to access to Goodroot’s medical cost reduction expertise and services, Goodroot CEO Michael Waterbury, also a member of the CFC board of directors, is personally providing funding to launch a debt-relief aspect of the partnership.
“Why should families who have survived a child getting cancer go bankrupt and not be able to afford college?” says Waterbury. “CFC is giving them scholarships, which is amazing, but what if we could prevent them from going into bankruptcy in the first place? By combining resources and knowledge we are doing just that.”
As part of the partnership, CFC families will have access to health-cost-navigator Emry, also a Goodroot community company. Emry provides live expert guidance on cost-effective healthcare decisions, evaluates bills, obtains rate reductions and more. In many cases, the remaining outstanding balances will be partially or fully covered through CFC donors and Waterbury’s donation.
“Medical debt often starts because of the extreme complexity of navigating our healthcare system,” says Waterbury. “No one needs a tool like Emry more than families who have had to deal with pediatric cancer. We’re honored to support CFC in their mission to ensure that cancer treatment does not cause long-term financial harm for a child and their family.”
To donate, visit cancerforcollege.org/donations
About Goodroot
Goodroot is a community of companies reinventing healthcare one system at a time. With a shared mission of increasing affordability and access in healthcare, Goodroot provides business infrastructure to help visionary healthcare professionals launch their own companies to fix chronic problems in the system. Goodroot’s community companies — AlignRx, Breez, CoeoRx, Empara, Emry Health, Nuwae, Penstock, RemedyOne and Sola — offer innovative services and strategic guidance for healthcare stakeholders such as employers, brokers, PBMs, health plans, third-party administrators, pharmaceutical manufacturers and hospitals. Goodroot was named a 2023 Top Impact Company by Real Leaders. goodrootinc.com
About Cancer For College
Cancer for College is a 501(c)3 charitable foundation that provides need-based college scholarships, educational experiences and medical debt relief to cancer survivors. Since 1993, CFC has awarded over $7M in scholarships to more than 1700 cancer survivors located around the country. To learn more about the cause, please visit cancerforcollege.org
