The Financial Cost of Cancer and How To Deal With It

The cost of blood cancer. We have gone through endless posts here talking about the emotional, physical, and social cost of cancer and all of its effects. It can wreck a life, and it wreaks havoc as it barrels through what was once a “normal” everyday routine.

The financial impact of blood cancer lasts for years

The thing is, this post isn’t going to talk about that cost; no, this time around, we are going to talk about the actual cost. The financial cost. The monetary cost. The cost in loonies and sawbucks and dollary-doos - whatever currency you use. Cancer costs money, and dealing with that can last much longer than even the cancer itself.

So, how do I know that the financial costs of blood cancer can last for years, you ask? Well, because I am still paying mine off. Going on year seven now, folks. In fact, I remember when I originally got the call that my bill was overdue, and I asked them for a payment plan. When I was giving them my credit/debit card I said, “Umm, my card is going to expire before the payment plan does.” The customer service person said, “Don’t worry, that’s actually pretty normal. We will make sure you keep paying.”

Pretty normal? Keep paying? DON’T WORRY? Well, guess what, I’m worried, I don’t wanna keep paying, and it shouldn’t be normal!! Paying off the procedures that put my lymphoma into remission shouldn’t be the most lengthy part of the treatment!

Financial burden a reality for most people

Unfortunately this is the reality for most people who have to battle cancer, at least here in the USA. In other countries the government or socialized medicine can take care of the bill but those people can run into problems with waiting times and finding doctors and appointments (but that’s for another post).

The monetary cost of cancer can be huge, but lets’ be honest - when you are first diagnosed and your world is turned upside and everything is on freakin’ fire, you don’t think about cost. No one does and that’s normal… and they know that. They never say, “You have cancer and need to start chemo as soon as possible to save your life. Oh, and...it’s going to be very expensive.” No.. they say, “You have cancer..” and then anything after that is lost to the thermonuclear bomb that just went off inside your head and now your world is exploding.

Even when you can eventually speak again, your first question isn’t going to be, “Hmm, can I see an itemized bill please before you administer the drugs that may save my life?” Even when the imminent danger has passed they know that you won’t have the energy to go through every single bill and really look at what you are being charged for. Heck, by the time you do you’ll be so mired in paperwork that you’ll have to use the dumpster on fire that your life has become just to put it all in.

Checking the hospital bills

To save you time and energy here are some things you can and should do and be aware of. First off, if you spend any time in the hospital there will be doctors who you don’t know, have likely never met, and probably will never even speak to or see that will bill you for their care.

Whether it’s the radiologist who reads your CAT scan or the attending for the night shift that came to see you when you were sleeping, you are allowed to request that those people make you aware when you are going to be billed and you are allowed to dispute those visits on your bill after the fact.

Ask about the hospital's financial aid program

Many hospitals also have financial aid programs, something you should definitely ask about. Also, at least inside the united states, some states require that the hospitals and medical offices provide a payment plan for medical debt. These can help if you are in one of those states, and even if you aren’t you should still try to offer them one yourself. Tell them that payments over a few years is better than no payments at all. Even if the debt goes into collections, you can still offer them a payment plan and they will most likely accept.

Medical debt cannot affect your credit rating

Speaking of medical debt, recently the federal government proposed a rule to make it illegal to have medical debt affect your credit rating. Even back in 2022, the three major credit bureaus not only removed many medical debts from credit reports and the new scoring system does not weigh medical debts heavily or sometimes at all. Now, this isn’t me telling you not to pay your hospital bills (even though they are ridiculous and have no correlation to the services actually rendered), but if you get into a situation where you can’t, it’s not the end of the world.

You can't be denied emergency medical treatment

Finally, know that in America at least (and most places from what I’ve read), they cannot deny you treatment for life-threatening or emergent conditions just because of inability to pay or previous non-payment. This means you don’t have to worry about them letting you drop dead because you are still fighting the bills from the first time the cancer showed up. This is something that is important to keep in the back of your mind, even if just for anxiety’s sake.

Paying the financial cost of cancer is something we don’t think about in the beginning but those bills do always come due. This will hopefully help you to deal with those inevitable costs without destroying both your credit rating and your sanity. Talk soon.