I Have Cancer, Now What? by Carson Boss

Author:Carson Boss
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Familius
Published: 2017-01-18T00:00:00+00:00

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.”

—Thomas Jefferson

Chapter Eight:

The Costs

In many marriages, one spouse is the money saver or penny pincher and the other spouse is the spender. This scenario can be managed in many relationships without major repercussions. However, it is very important to manage how money is spent and be on the same page in navigating the challenges of cancer costs.

If both of you are savers, then kudos to you. You probably feel more prepared for what life throws your way. If you both spend every penny you make, you most likely live paycheck to paycheck and struggle with financial stress. No matter which end of the spectrum you’re on, when cancer comes along, it can throw a fifty-pound wrench into the financial engine of your marriage.

In most cases, you do not budget for a catastrophic medical issue like cancer. Unless someone who has been through this shares their financial details, you will have no idea of the costs involved. Hopefully, you will have some kind of financial support that can relieve some or most of the burden.

Medical/Health Insurance

We used to complain all the time about having to pay for employer-run medical insurance. It seemed like every year premiums would increase, employer-paid programs would be dropped, and coverage areas and in-network choices would shrink. Bottom line . . . we felt like insurance was a huge waste of money.

The few times we used the benefits didn’t seem to outweigh the amount deducted from the checks each pay period, not to mention the money we were putting into our Health Savings Account (HSA) program.

Well, we don’t complain any more.

We had no idea what the costs of cancer would be. Looking at all of the medical bills and insurance statements from all of the doctor appointments, lab work, surgeries, and treatments over an 18-month period, the overall cost was in the hundreds of thousands range . . . and we’re still not through! After comparing the insurance plan’s out-of-pocket maximum with the overall costs, our costs were mere pocket change.

Cindy: I was shocked at the cost of cancer treatments! We’ve had to pay doctor bills for stitches and ER visits before. But I was completely overwhelmed at the size of our bills as they came flooding in. Yes, our insurance paid a large portion of it. However, meeting and exceeding our $10,000 deductible two years in a row really put us in financial distress. This type of medical condition is something you never really plan for, so it really hits the wallet pretty hard.

Carson: If your spouse was just diagnosed and you have time to do it before your next renewal period, go with the lower-deductible/higher-cost plan your company might offer. Even though you will have more money taken out of your check, the maximum out-of-pocket amount will be easier to come up with.

Some other tips we have learned

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