To be considered, you must meet all of the requirements below.

Medical Eligibility

• You underwent breast reconstruction related to breast cancer.

• Your reconstruction was completed within the last 36 months (3 years).

• You were treated by a board-certified plastic surgeon practicing in Louisiana.

• You currently live in Louisiana.

Financial Eligibility

• You have outstanding, unpaid reconstruction-related medical debt in your name.

• You have completed a Dollar For screening for hospital financial assistance (see Step 1 below).

• You can provide proof of household income and household size.

• You can provide your insurance information.

• You can provide documentation of your remaining balance(s).

A note on eligible debt: it must be reconstruction-related, in your name, supported by a provider statement, and incurred within the last 36 months. Debt that has already been paid off, refinanced personal loans, and credit card balances used to pay medical bills are not eligible.

Before you can submit a BREAST Fund application, you must complete a free charity care screening through our partner, Dollar For. Dollar For helps patients apply for hospital financial assistance programs, which must be pursued and exhausted before The BREAST Fund can consider a grant.

You can find more information on why we require this step HERE.

• Hospital bills

• Surgeon fees

• Anesthesia fees

• Reconstruction-related revisions

• Outstanding reconstruction-related balances, including those on payment plans or in collections

• Travel, lodging, or childcare expenses

• Lost wages

• Cosmetic procedures unrelated to reconstruction

• Non-medical household expenses

• Insurance premiums

• Personal loans or credit card balances

For assistance with these non-surgical expenses, please consider applying for grants from Breastoration.

1. Start your Dollar For charity care screening right away. Don't wait!

2. Gather your documents: proof of income (most recent tax return and/or W-2), household size, insurance information, current medical billing statements, your Dollar For documentation, and provider information.

3. Complete the BREAST Fund online application between August 1 and October 31, 2026.

4. An independent Grant Review Committee will evaluate your application based on eligibility, documented financial need, and available funding. We may reach out if additional documentation is needed.

5. You'll be notified of the committee's decision. Whenever possible, approved funds are paid directly to your provider, hospital, or collection agency rather than to you.

Item We ask for detailed information about your household income, size, and insurance because The BREAST Fund evaluates financial need on a sliding scale. Your eligibility and potential grant amount are weighed against both your income level and household size, not a single flat income cutoff.

If your household falls outside our standard income-based guidelines, that does not automatically disqualify you. Your application is instead routed to our Grant Review Committee for a hardship-based review, which looks at the fuller picture of your circumstances—things like active cancer treatment, job loss during treatment, a spouse or partner unable to work, a major complication requiring additional procedures, bankruptcy related to medical expenses, other significant non-reconstruction medical costs, travel burden for care, or the loss of a household's primary wage earner.

We ask these questions to be thorough, not to create hurdles. The more complete a picture you give us, the better we can evaluate your application fairly, whether through our standard income guidelines or through committee review of your specific hardship.

Applications open: August 1, 2026

Applications close: October 31, 2026

Applications are reviewed on documented need and eligibility, not on a first-come, first-served basis, but because Step 1 (Dollar For screening) can take 6–10 weeks on its own, we recommend starting well before the deadline.

This first grant round is funded by $25,000 raised through our launch efforts. Grants are awarded until this round’s available funding is exhausted. If all funds are awarded before October 31, we may need to close applications early.

• Your medical and financial information is submitted through a secure, HIPAA-compliant application and is only accessible to those authorized to evaluate your eligibility.

• Submitting an application does not guarantee funding. Awards depend on eligibility, demonstrated need, available funds, and committee review.

• Applicants are generally eligible for one grant award per reconstruction journey.

• Committee decisions are final.

• Your information is kept confidential and is reviewed only by those authorized to verify eligibility and process payments.

• Households above typical income guidelines remain welcome to apply; these requests go through additional committee and Board review.

• If this round’s funding is exhausted before your application is reviewed, we’ll keep your materials on file for consideration in our next grant round.