Cancer Cancer Treatment

How can patients cope with the high cost of treating cancer?

July 25, 2019

Cancer treatment isn’t cheap in most areas of the world. The reason that it isn’t affordable is currently under debate. In the meantime, it’s not uncommon for cancer patients to face bills that range from a few thousand to millions of dollars over the course of their treatments.

The costs depend on a variety of factors and include bills from individual doctors, diagnostic laboratories, experts who read test results, hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation facilities, medical equipment companies, and pharmacies. The stress that a cancer patient experiences while trying to pay these bills while also dealing with symptoms and attempting to improve their health adversely affects the outcome of treatment by putting too much strain on their minds, bodies, finances and even relationships. Thankfully, patients and their representatives and supporters can reduce this stress by using one or more of the following methods to help them cope with the costs:

Financial Hardship Programs

The term medical financial hardship refers to any instance when a patient can’t afford to pay a portion or all of a bill because one or more health conditions have limited their ability to work and significantly reduced their income. It can also describe a situation in which the cost of treatment places an overwhelming financial burden on them.

Most hospitals and healthcare systems have some sort of “financial hardship” or “charity care” program for patients who don’t have enough insurance coverage or money. A cancer patient or their loved ones merely need to speak to a billing or financial aid representative or patient advocate. Pharmaceutical and diagnostic testing companies typically also have cost-reduction or discount programs for cancer patients experiencing financial hardship. Some of these companies even waive the price of a specific drug or test entirely, depending on the type and an individual patient’s income. For example, many patients have received free genetic testing related to breast cancer risks.

Non-Profit Organizations

Plenty of non-profits around the country and world offer aid to patients coping with the physical, emotional and financial stresses caused by cancer. This aid might involve co-pay assistance, a grant, a loan, a housing arrangement, free or low-cost transportation or merely advice about finding aid. Some organizations provide assistance to patients in general and others help only those affected by a specific type of cancer. There are also organizations that simply help people suffering from chronic or terminal illnesses that help cancer patients as well. The easiest way to find this type of assistance is by performing an online search with the keywords “assistance” and “cancer” along with other words that narrow down the search like “travel” or “financial” before “assistance” or the name of a specific type of cancer. Patients should also contact local churches and other religious-based organizations. Although some religious non-profits require that patients share their beliefs, many of them help any person who seeks help no matter their faith and without any expectations.

Alternative Options

Cancer patients often negotiate lower service costs with their doctors. A lot of patients, especially those with rare types of cancer, agree to join test studies or become the focus of research in exchange for treatment cost discounts or free treatment. Many patients also receive discounts if they simply ask for that type of help in return for paying their account balances off completely with cash immediately at the end of their individual appointments or upon receipt of their bills, rather than setting up payment plans. Of course, some people choose low or no interest payment arrangements that save them money in the short term even though the plans cost more over time.

Additionally, patients often check the prices charged by similar local doctors and arrange lower pricing with their preferred ones before appointments by merely mentioning competitive pricing and asking for “loyalty” discounts. Patients who possess skills that doctors find valuable can sometimes negotiate trade arrangements that involve them paying with one or more services rather than money. Lastly, some patients save money by including in their treatment plans generic drugs that are cheaper than name-brand ones and less expensive natural remedies like Fucoidan and medical marijuana.

Fundraising Systems

Many cancer patients, especially those who have exhausted all other options, attempt to raise extra money by requesting financial donations from their family, friends, co-workers and even complete strangers using different online and offline fundraising systems. For example, they ask for monetary help on social networking websites that feature fundraising tools. They also turn to crowd-funding sites. A patient or their representative creates a profile that displays a preset funding goal, an area that explains their need and regular updates about their care. These sites publish and promote this information publicly on a global scale. Users even receive unique crowdfunding profile URLs that they can share via social networks and other websites and email or offline.

Traditional offline fundraising systems continue to work today as well as they did before the Internet Age: Cancer patients and their loved ones often succeed at raising funds using tried-and-true methods, like placing donation cans in retail stores and setting up dinners and auctions that require participants to pay a specific minimum ticket amount so that proceeds can go toward the patient’s bills.

Photo: Dollars by 401(K) 2013 licensed under Creative commons 5