Cancer strikes to anyone regardless of the age, popularity, religion, ethnicity, and culture, lifestyle, or financial situation. It’s an illness that doesn’t discriminate. Even the wealthiest ones like Steve Jobs wasn’t spared from this sickness. It only shows that cancer doesn’t care if you’re a rich or poor.

And this is the odd part, what’s more than being broke and then gets diagnosed with this disease.

Yes, there are health insurances available but this may not be enough to pay for your treatment. Moreover, since health insurances are usually provided at work, you may not be in the position to take long absences from work to focus on fighting your disease. Your money may not be sufficient to try hospitals who specializes in cancer treatments especially on what stricken you. Even with an insurance, it's not 100% guaranteed that it won’t drain your bank account.

A cancer diagnosis carries with it lots of stresses, not to mention the physical and emotional aspects of dealing with it. But the financial aspect is often overlooked by the medical practitioners and hospitals, and that a lot of them doesn’t know how to bring the subject up.

Medical expenses for Cancer Patients

Learn a lot as your mind can absorb before your cancer treatment starts. It will help you know what to expect and how to deal with it. It can also help you plan for the costs it will incur. Most cancer patients have medical expenses for things enumerated below:

• Hospital and doctor visits for check-ups and treatments
• Various repetitive Laboratory tests (such as blood tests, urine tests, and other specifics)
• Procedures (for diagnosis or treatment, that  include room charges, machinery and medical equipment use, one or more doctors’ fees, and more)
• Imaging tests (like x-rays, CT scans, and MRIs, which include separate fees for the radiologist, equipment, and any medicines used for the test)
• Radiation treatments (implants, external radiation, or both)
• Drug costs (in-patient, out-patient, prescription, non-prescription, and procedure-related)
• Hospital confinements (which can include many types of costs such as drugs, tests, and procedures as well as nursing care, doctor visits, and consults with specialists)
• Surgery (surgeon, anesthesiologist, pathologist, operating room fees, equipment, medicines, and more)
• Home care (can include equipment, drugs, visits from specially trained nurses, and more)

5 Helpful Ways to Pay for Cancer Costs

Government Programs

Numerous government programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, federal grants, and others not mentioned can offer financial and medical assistance to cancer patients. These include veterans and military benefits, children’s health insurance programs, and financial support programs for low-income earning women who suffer from breast and/or cervical cancer.

Life Insurance Loans

You may have decided to purchase other life insurance policies with the intent of transferring it to a loved one I  order to protect their sickness in the future. This purchased policies may be able to provide you with a cash should you need it.

Life insurance loans through Fifth Season Financial are available to those diagnosed with advanced stage illness. Moreover, it can provide a relatively huge percentage of your policy’s death benefit available in just a few days’ time.

Advantages to life insurance loans are those facts that the lender assumes the payments of your loan mostly from the time you are diagnosed of such illness, and that any remaining death benefit is still available for your named beneficiary.

Friends and Family

During this dark side of your life, the first ones you can seek help are your family and friends. For sure they’d be more than willing to help, even if they don’t have much capacity to do so. Others may lend or give you money, while the others can help through organizing fundraisings in order to help you pay for cancer treatment costs or day-to-day expenses.

Home Equity Loan

If you have a real estate property, you can use this as a collateral to get a line of credit of a lump sum home loan. The funds you can raise will help you with your cancer treatment costs.

The disadvantage however of getting a home loan is that regular monthly payments will be required, and you need to pass a credit check to be approved for the loan. The dilemma is, you may find it hard to do so if they found out you’re undergoing a treatment and struggling for bills.

Personal Loans

Similar to a home equity loan, personal loans will require you to pass the credit checking. This will also have either a lump sum payment or monthly amortizations. The advantage it, it does it does not necessarily require a collateral.