HealthMatters 2010
co-payments. The multiple myeloma Re-
search Foundation might provide an annual
grant of $5,000, for example, or the Health-
well Foundation might kick in $3,000 per
Financial
year. in addition, pharmaceutical companies
sometimes provide discounted or even free
cancer medications.
amy welker is an oncology financial
Operations
counselor at aurora St. Luke’s medical
Center in milwaukee. She works closely
with the patient’s insurance company to
retain benefits, obtain preauthorizations,
identify out-of-pocket expenses and devel-
Getting a cancer diagnosis is bad enough.
op a financial plan for future payments.
“no two individuals are the same,”
Don’t let paying for treatment break your
welker says. “every patient needs one-on-
one time. i’m here to help answer ques-
bank account, your health or your heart.
tions. if they don’t understand how to ap-
ply for a program, we’ll walk them through
By Scott R. WeinBeRgeR
it, help them file for assistance. my goal is
to take as much of the financial burden
off patients as possible when they’re going
through treatment.”
For uninsured patients, welker looks for
other programs, such as county and state as-
sistance, to help with costs. aurora itself of-
fers aid through a program called Helping
Hand and a catastrophic plan.
Helping Hand aids those who can’t get
insurance by writing off a portion of cancer
costs based on patient income. There’s a 15
percent discount for self-pay patients who
don’t have insurance. if they pay within 30
days, there’s another 10 percent discount.
Patients who qualify for the catastrophic
plan receive an extended payment plan if,
after all Helping Hand discounts, their
A
bout one in two men and one in three women will develop cancer balance is $25,000 or more. They pay 10
at some point in their lives, according to the american Cancer Society. many of percent of their yearly income in monthly
those will be skin cancers that are not life-threatening. but more serious cancers payments for five years. after that, any re-
can threaten your financial future in addition to your health. maining balance is forgiven.
“no one plans on dealing with a cancer diagnosis,” notes david Straseski, lead oncology
social worker at oncology alliance in wauwatosa. “and there are so few organizations that What To Do
provide the financial support that many people need.” KnoW your insurAnce: “People need
The american Society of Clinical oncology’s new guidance statement on the cost of to become very familiar with their health
cancer care is sobering: “our patients are the most vulnerable because they often experience care coverage,” Straseski says. “any one
uneven insurance coverage, leading to financial strain or even ruin.” treatment may run $20,000 to $30,000.
“Cancer is one of the leading causes of bankruptcy, according to the american Cancer many insurance companies have patient
Society,” says mike Koroscik, chief administrative officer at oncology alliance. “we’ve seen advocates, and they are a tremendous re-
tremendous [medical] advances in the last five years, but it comes at a much higher cost to source.” ask your insurance company if
patients, and that’s why financial counseling is a necessity. with the economy the way it is you can be assigned an advocate or case
and with insurance coverage changing, you’re seeing higher co-pays and co-insurance.” manager so you speak with the same per-
one serious side effect, Koroscik adds, is that “all of these out-of-pocket expenses can son each time you call. if you’re desperate,
make patients less likely to follow their treatment plan.” you can check into getting accelerated
even good health insurance may not cover everything. most policies have deductibles benefits from your life insurance company,
and co-payments; many put caps on how much they’ll pay for prescriptions and other or selling your life insurance for a viatical
expenses. Straseski notes that one drug for multiple myeloma, a form of cancer, costs about settlement. Visit the state’s office of the
$7,000 per month. Commissioner of insurance (oci.wi.gov)
oncology alliance social workers work with a half-dozen foundations that can help with and search for “viatical.”
28 › Milwaukee Magazine › HealthMatters 2010 › milwaukeemagazine.com
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