Radiation?? Can't afford to do it

Kathie,

I understand how you feel.  Out of pocket expenses are so high for many who are insured.  I'm about to do radiation and know I'll have to come up with another $1000 to reach my out of pocket and we are at the end of the year.

There are some resources listed from www.patientresource.com.  You can most likely download their Financial resource booklet or have it mailed to you for free.  The booklet on Women's cancer has pages of financial help in the back & I believe they have a separate booklet for financial listings.

You could also ask your Dr. if their medical office or hospital affiliation has any financial resources available to help cover some of the expsense.

Best wishes to you.  I hope you can get this covered.

Terri

I agree with fredntan. I have read a number of posts from women in the same boat as you are. One lady in New York said they told her she had to come up with a $350 deductible and $7500 in out of pocket expenses BEFORE they would proceed. That is outrageous. FYI my husband and I have BCBS of Tennessee. We have a $5k deductible but that doesnt mean BCBS didnt pay portions of my charges upfront as part of the network agreement. Thank goodness for that. We are still paying on my BC and I am 2 months short of being DX 3 years ago. We reached our $5k deductible 2 months after I was Dx and luckily after that we are 100% which included the BS's bill for 2 surgeries, coincidentally 33 RADS treatments, a colonscopy and Oncologist charges. What does it cost for radiation - we never got an EOB from them so have no idea or what my BS charged which I am sure was off the chart. I had the Women's Health Center where I had my mammograms and biopsy calling me before I had the biopsy to tell me what I would owe and wanted me to pay up. I told her no way BCBS said NOT to pay anything until I got the EOB from them. Glad I did. They all try to put pressure on you to pay up front. Dont do it. We are making payments as I mentioned which I do faithfully every month. We have paid off 1 and have 3 more to go. The balances are all under 1000 but I refuse to not pay something we need to pay just to pay them the balance. Make no mistake, as you have already figured out, they will do their best to intimidate you into paying and trying to make you feel like a lowlife when you resist. Stay strong and tell them you will make payments. They dont have to agree of course but its worth a shot. BTW I never asked them about making payments; just starting doing it. Of course mine was after the fact and yours isnt. Heck of a note when you are going through all this stress and adding financial worries to it. I shudder to think how many women forego treatment because they cant afford it. We have a Church Health Center here that performs a lot of procedures at a reduced rate. Still health costs are off the chart and frankly not many could afford to pay it out of pocket. A loan officer friend told me that when they check credit medical payments are far down the financial chain of credit worthiness. On the cost my guess is chemo is 50k and upwards and Rads arent far behind. Good luck. Be persistent your health depends on it. Diane

Kathie
I am so sorry that you are on the horns of this dilemma.
But, I wanted to let you know that there are women on this board who have chosen to not do radiation after lumpectomy.

I was not one of them. But, now that I am several years out, I wish I had considered that option.
My tumor was stage 1, grade 1, 1.5 cm. I had a very low Ki%. And my surgeon took margins that were about the same size as the tumor. And they were clear. And my nodes were clear.
The purpose of rads is to clean up any extra tumor cells that may still be in the tumor bed. This is VERY IMPORTANT if you have any scattered cells in the area. I suspect that I didn't.
I chose to do partial breast radiation - as I thought that 33 treatments of the whole breast was overkill. It was pretty wonky, and I do not think I would do it again.
The standards for our cancer is the same as it is for all women with early stage breast cancer. But, and remember that I am no doctor, and I am just describing MY thought process - I believe that I was much less likely to have a local recurrence than a woman who did not have large margins and who did not have an indolent tumor.
And, if I do have a local recurrence, then hopefully, it will be caught. After all, it was an lazy, slow, non-spreading little sucker.
I guess what I am saying is, there is an good chance that you are not giving yourself a sentence of recurrence by deciding that you cannot afford to go into debt for rads.
80% of our prevention is done by the surgery. Full treatment gives you about 10% more sureity, but nothing docs can do can give you a 100% guarantee we are cured, but I think of all women with IDC, we are more likely than most to be done with this disease.
I also think that it sucks that we even have to have this discussion - I think politicians and insurance executives should pay extra taxes on their exorbinant income to help people in the hole you are in.

I am curious though, as to why you had chemo.
Are you young?
Was your oncotype score higher than expected?

All these things may affect doctor's response.

Kathie, does your insurance plan have an annual out-of-pocket max? It seems like with all your treatment you may have hit it already. As others have said, the onco departments usually have a social worker who can point you to resources. Also, just in terms of other resources, many cancer support centers offer free services. Mine even had free private sessions with a counselor. (which might help with the anxiety over all of this). I hate that, on top of cancer, we have to worry about $ and insurance issues. Arg! Sending you good healthy thoughts.

Check this out - My oncologist office connected me with this foundation: Co-pay Relief.

http://www.copays.org/resources/breast.php

They spport specific types of cancer and fund a few at a time.  Breast cancer happens to be open at this time: 

Fund Status and Eligibility

Open - We are accepting applications for new and renewal patients. If your application for assistance is approved you can begin receiving funding immediately.

Maximum Award Level: $5,000 Per Year

Eligibility Criteria

• Patient should be insured and insurance must cover the medication for which patient seeks assistance.
• Patient must have a confirmed diagnosis of Breast Cancer.
• Patient must reside and receive treatment in the United States.

The oncologist office submitted my application - I provided my checks and W2.  I applied after I finished treatment - they retro pay! I was able to get the full offering of 5k.  It does not support surgeries or scans (not sure about radiation) but my point of sending it is you can submit and get money back you've paid the MO and use that for radition. 

Just thought I would throw it out there