Is cancer insurance right for me?
Sarah Petrunak
| 2 min read
Cancer is one of the scariest words you can hear from your doctor. Life-threatening or not, cancer is intense and typically involves extensive treatments. Fortunately, many individual and group health care plans provide some coverage for the medical treatments and bills incurred by cancer patients. So, if your traditional plan provides coverage, do you even need cancer insurance and is it worth it?
While many health care plans provide some coverage, the price of cancer treatments is so high that the responsibility to pay just 20 percent of a treatment cost is unrealistic for most patients. And, because the majority of cancer treatments are ongoing, the bills can accumulate, leading to debt and the inability to cover other costs of living like mortgages, car payments and utilities.
With that in mind, critical illness insurance is an option worth consideration. It is a supplement to a traditional health care policy and requires the insurer to pay a lump sum cash payment to the policyholder if the insured is diagnosed with a qualified cancer.
The benefit of cancer insurance is the policy money can be used towards a variety of expenses, not just medical bills, and can help cover lost wages for unpaid time you take off work. Without cancer insurance, a majority of your income may go towards paying off the bills from your treatment, leaving you and your loved ones with minimal finances to pay your mortgage or rent, food and other basic needs. Cancer insurance enables patients and their loved ones to fulfill their financial responsibilities without making serious sacrifices.
Cancer insurance can also provide coverage for experimental treatments, or treatments at out-of-state locations, that traditional policies may not cover, allowing you to seek the best treatment for you regardless of policy restrictions.
So, should you purchase a cancer insurance policy? It ultimately depends on a variety of factors including health history, financial situation and personal preference.
To learn more about cancer insurance, ask questions and see answers, visit Health Insurance Central.
