Alternative Funding Programs
ADAP Advocacy is deeply concerned about an emerging anti-patient cost-shifting scheme known as Alternative Funding Programs (AFPs), which is simply the rich robbing the poor under the guise of consumer choice.
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AFPs are created by private companies and marketed to self-funded employer health plans to help lower costs for specialty medications. ADAP Advocacy is alarmed by how AFPs are shifting costs to public health programs already stretched thin, and how these programs are creating potential public health risks to unknowing patients.
Patients who utilize specialty medications are living with serious and often chronic health conditions, such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, or HIV. Barriers to obtaining those medications can literally be a matter of life and death. Many people obtain their specialty drugs via their private health insurance, often an employer-sponsored plan. AFPs place profit above the patient’s well-being, often forcing patients with private insurance to utilize public safety net programs, taxing already limited resources earmarked for those who are truly in need. Additionally, AFPs create barriers to access and adversely affect healthcare outcomes.
AFPs are putting patients’ lives in danger by providing prescription drugs through illegal importation, as highlighted in a CBNC investigative report into the predatory practices of some AFPs, "How Soaring U.S. Drug Prices Fueled What Feds Call An Illegal Import Of Medications."
Blogs
Alternative Funding Programs for Prescription Drugs Are Putting Patient Lives at Risk
(December 4, 2025)
As part of ADAP Advocacy’s continued spotlight on the dangers of counterfeit prescription drugs, it is worthwhile to elevate a recent expose aired by CBNC.
View our blogs archive.
BACK TO TOPInjurious Tactics Associated with Alternative Funding Programs are Growing
(January 30, 2025)
Barriers to accessing prescription medications, especially specialty drugs, is a constant challenge for many patients in the healthcare expenditure ecosystem.
RESOURCEs
Reports
The National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) report, ALTERNATIVE FUNDING PROGRAMS (AFPs): Challenges in Accessing Essential Medicines for People Living with HIV/AIDS, examines how these programs effectively shift the financial and logistical burdens from employers to their employees, introducing risks for patients and broader public health.