Needs Navigation

About The Issue

The hard reality is that nearly all of us living in the U.S. today are just one serious diagnosis away from experiencing financial devastation.  Financial distress can lead to worse and disparate health outcomes and is even more challenging if you’re uninsured, underinsured or have limited-resources.

We believe that needs navigation services are a critical part of the solution. It involves a real person that works with you to identify all your needs, connects you with financial and other support and guides you through our complex, and often overwhelming, health care and social support systems.  It can be provided by social workers, community health workers, nurse navigators and many other professionals.

Needs navigation may exist within some health systems and in communities, but it is currently scattered, still inaccessible for many people and is not consistent across settings to support quality care.

We need your help to bring needs navigation everywhere. NPAF is actively advocating for needs navigation to be a core part of our healthcare system and communities, with the goal of making it accessible to all. This means we want patients and caregivers to:

• Be asked about any concerns they have about their costs of care or about financial hardship (and to feel comfortable talking about them)
• Have access to trained navigators, either in their health system or community, who will address their worries and connect them to the supports they or their families need
• Gain peace of mind knowing they do not have to fall into debt because of their or a loved one’s diagnosis.

To make this a reality for all of us, we need more people to understand what needs navigation is and to speak openly about how financial hardship hurts health.