Helping you on your congenital heart disease journey.
HeartKids understands that congenital/childhood heart disease significantly impacts patients and their families. This is especially true when you or your child are hospitalised and you need to travel long distances for surgery.
Spending a lot of time in hospital can turn your life upside down. Oftentimes parents are caring for an unwell child whilst juggling siblings, work and running the household. For adults with a childhood heart disease, you may be forced to use up leave or give up work to complete required treatment.
Financial Assistance Program
HeartKids is here to help! Thanks to our donors and corporate partners, HeartKids offers a Financial Assistance Program for impacted individuals and families.
To be eligible for financial assistance you or your family must:
- Either be a patient yourself, or be a parent or carer of an infant, child or young person (up to 18 years) with a diagnosis of congenital or childhood-acquired heart disease;
- Undergoing active treatment, post-treatment or in palliative care;
- Be experiencing financial hardship whereby all forms of government assistance have been exhausted
- Need to travel inter or intra state (over 250kms), or are hospitalised for a period of seven days or longer
Financial counselling
The National Debt Hotline offers free and confidential advice to people experiencing financial difficulties. If you are in debt, the counsellors can help you to get your finances back on track. They can help you to work out what you can afford, how to negotiate payment plans, what to prioritise, and much more.
Call: 1800 007 007
Other support
We acknowledge childhood heart disease can cause significant emotional, physical, financial anguish and worry. HeartKids support team members are here to advocate on your behalf. We can work with you and your hospital staff to write to employers and others explaining your circumstances.
Discuss your needs in confidence with your local HeartKids support team
Call HeartKids
Go Fund Me
Some people ask family and friends to help them on their journey by setting up a Go Fund Me page. This website allows you to share your story and set up a donations page.
Need more info?
The HeartKids Helpline provides support and guidance for anyone affected by childhood heart disease. Our team can talk you through your financial assistance options.
The Helpline is available during business hours. You can also email us your questions.
Call HelplineEmail us