Last fall, we shared some welcome news: a new law would allow patients with cancer to defer their student loan payments throughout the duration of their treatment (and for 6 months after) without accruing interest. Technically, the law went into effect immediately when it was signed on September 28, 2018, but it wasn't until yesterdaynearly a year laterthat a request form became publicly available on the U.S. Department of Education's Federal Student Aid website.
Now, anyone who finds herself in the tough position of receiving a cancer diagnosis while facing another kind of stressmounting student debtwill be able to visit the site and request this deferral.
Read MoreTo submit a request to defer student loan payments and pause interest during treatment, patients need to get a doctor to write a letter certifying the treatment and specifying its start and end dates.
The burden of student debt is tremendous on its own. When paired with a cancer diagnosis, which often demands every ounce of energy you have, the challenge becomes even worse. This is especially true given the costs associated with treatment; a study published in 2013 found that people diagnosed with cancer were 2.65 times more likely to go bankrupt than people who were cancer-free. The burden was worse yet for younger patients, who had 2-5 times higher rates of bankruptcy compared with patients who were older than 65. Doctors have coined the cost burden of cancer "financial toxicity."
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People who fall into the younger group of patients, of course, are the ones most likely to be dealing with student debt, too. The new law, while it won't erase the debt, will at least make it possible to hit pause on one source of stress to focus on the other.
SurvivorNet has heard from countless patients and survivors who have shared that struggling to pay for treatment was (and often, still is) one of the most difficult aspects of their cancer journey. Even in cases where insurance steps in and covers most of the cancer treatment itself, there's a significant burden associated with additional costs of receiving the care, such as traveling to the hospital, paying for hotels near a cancer center, securing childcare while you're in treatmentthe list goes on.
Dr. Nina Shah of UCSF spoke with SurvivorNet about how to get help with the cancer bills.
When the bills begin adding up, Dr. Nina Shah, a hematologist at the University of California San Francisco, says "the best way to look at this and find the resources that are available is to speak with the social worker associated with [your] practice, because that person usually knows what resources are available and what you can do to access them or apply for them."
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Sarah Stapleton, who is herself a social worker at the Montefiore Medical Center, also told SurvivorNet that it can be helpful to make a connection with this person from the onsetwhen you first begin treatment.
"If you start to receive large bills and co-pays that are incredibly not possible for you to pay," Stapleton added, "the first step would be to speak with the hospital or clinic about payment plans or about financial assistance they may offer."
Social workers are there to understand your needs and burdensand, ultimately, to advocate on your behalf.
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