At 58 years old, Carl soon learned, like other patients at dialysis, that a "donut hole" isn't just found at the bakery. Even though he had good health insurance, he had entered the “donut hole” period of his insurance coverage through Medicare. He was terrified. He was attempting to budget and buy groceries and survive on a limited income but now, on dialysis, he also needed medicine to survive.
Carl applied for prescription drug assistance through the National Kidney Foundation of Arizona's Patient Services Department. After acceptance in the program, he was given one hundred twenty dollars in gift cards to his pharmacy which enabled him to obtain the medicine he needed.
Carl wrote the Foundation a thank you note stating “Due to your generosity, I was able to splurge and buy a small turkey for Thanksgiving dinner. To some, that may seem nominal. However, to me, it was like a gift from Heaven!”