For so many of us the cost of cancer treatment is one more painful side-effects of the disease. Now there is a new prediction that the financial burden of cancer is going to increase another 30% in the next decade. With treatment costs that can average $100,000 per year, how can patients cope?
Your Oncologist As Advocate
A lot of the headache when it comes to paying for cancer comes from convincing insurance companies that they need to pay for certain treatments and tests.
Read More"My best advice to work around the system of whether or not drugs or tests can be covered for cancer is to make sure you have an advocate in your field working for you," says Dr. Ocean. "The frustrating part for me is that sometimes we even have to educate the insurance companies and say, 'There's a reason why I want to use this medicine.’"
Connect With a Social Worker
Dr. Nina Shah, a hematologist at the University of California San Francisco, told SurvivorNet that when it comes to the high costs associated with cancer treatmentsometimes called "financial toxicity"it can be helpful for patients to speak with social workers.
RELATED VIDEO: How a Social Worker Can Help Navigate the Costs of Treatment
"The best way to look at this and find the resources that are available is to speak with the social worker associated with [your cancer center]," Dr. Shah said. "Because that person usually knows what resources are available and what you can do to access them."
NBC’s Tom Brokaw is living with multiple myeloma. But the drugs that allow him to live well with cancer are incredibly expensive.
Ask About Patient Assistance Programs
Physicians and the navigators who help patients say that when it comes to the cost of a specific cancer drug or treatment, the assistance programs offered by pharmaceutical companies can offer help to those of us who can't afford the full cost.
RELATED VIDEO: Paying for PARP Inhibitors
Most big drug companies have programs like these in place. While there may be maximum income thresholds, it can be useful to simply ask. In the case of newer medications, drugmakers often will make exceptions as they want as many people as possible taking their products.
Navigating approval criteria can be very trickyan example of a circumstance in which social workers can be a big help.
Get In Touch With Foundations Set-Up To Help With Bills
There are a number of nonprofit and advocacy organizations that have programs in place to financially support those who can't pay for the costs associated with their care. The Lazarex Cancer Foundation, for instance, reimburses patients for the costs associated with clinical trial participation, and other organizations such as the American Cancer Society and the Cancer Support Community may help patients secure lodging and travel for their care.
Be Wary About Crowdfunding
Increasingly, patients have been turning to online platforms such as GoFundMe to crowdfund donations to help cover the costs of care. These websites give patients the opportunity to share their story widely in the hopes of encouraging people to donate money.
But according to a new study conducted by researchers at the University of California San Francisco, these efforts often fall short. The study found that the average "goal" that patients set on their GoFundMe pages is $10,000, but the average amount raised only $2,125less than a quarter of the goal "ask."
Some people, to be sure, do experience success: One 16-year-old girl who solicited donations to help pay for her lymphoma treatment was surprised by a $10,000 donation from her favorite superstar, Taylor Swift. But as the new study makes clear, those stories of patients who are able to successfully raise enough money through crowdfunding efforts to cover the cancer bills are few and far between.
Unlike the uncertain nature of online crowdfunding, people like social workers and nonprofit workers will advocate for you reliably (plus, they genuinely want to it's the job they chose after all).
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