ABOUT US
You get diagnosed with cancer, heart disease, MS, Parkinson’s, lupus, or another serious chronic illness, and your life changes in a single day.
Then the system takes over.
You wait for approvals. You get denied care. Bills arrive that make no sense. No one explains the process, the rules, or your rights. And somehow you’re expected to navigate all of it while trying to stay alive. This isn’t rare. It’s the reality for millions of patients.
98% of insured cancer patients still face medical debt. People living with chronic illness spend thousands more out of pocket every year than healthy adults. Nearly half of seriously ill patients drain their life savings within two years. And countless patients spend precious time fighting billing errors, prior authorizations, and coverage denials instead of focusing on treatment.
The most frustrating part? The system already knows many of these denials shouldn’t stand. Nearly 80% of appeals overturn the original decision, yet only a fraction of patients ever appeal because the process is too confusing, too exhausting, or simply too overwhelming.
We The Patients exists because people are done accepting a healthcare system that is hardest to navigate when they need it most.
WHO WE ARE
Founded by survivors, patients, advocates, and healthcare insiders, We The Patients brings together lived experience, policy expertise, and data driven insights to improve healthcare for the people it is meant to serve. As America’s first nonprofit dedicated to organizing patients and families as a constituency for accountability and consumer protection, we identify where the healthcare system causes preventable harm, measure its impact, and advance practical solutions that improve access to care.
We started where the data is clearest. In oncology, the financial and administrative barriers are among the most severe and the most studied, making it the right place to build the model. Using polling, public engagement, health economics, and policy development, we work to strengthen consumer protections and improve outcomes across the full spectrum of chronic and serious illness.
Our work is informed by firsthand experience navigating the healthcare system as patients, survivors, caregivers, advocates, policy leaders, and industry insiders. We believe healthcare works best when the people it serves have a voice in how it is designed.
MISSION
We The Patients exists to protect patients and families from the financial, administrative, and insurance barriers that stand between them and the care they need. We do this by elevating the patient voice, generating consumer driven insights, and advancing practical solutions that improve access, navigation, and accountability across the healthcare system.
VISION
A future where every patient can access the care they need without unnecessary delays, denials, financial hardship, or administrative barriers.
NORTH STAR
To build the nation’s most influential patient consumer protection movement.
VALUE
We believe the people who experience healthcare should help shape it.