Health Insurance

I kept a journal. Whenever I made a call I wrote the date, company, address and phone # then person I spoke with. I write down everything that is said in the conversation, questions and answers, everything. I highlight the company name in a color. Then whenever I have to refer back I look at my list of companies and highlighted colors. If its blue I know to refer back to all blue highlighted conversations, I will then color another company with a different color so and so forth. On the front of folder just keep writing the name of company and highlight it, that is your index so to speak. I certainly could not count on my brain so this helped me tremendously. With making things color coded it also made it quicker and easier to find the previous call.

Start by talking to your doctor/medical professional. Explain your financial situation and ask if he/she can reduce fees. You'd be surprised how open some are to this. Some doctors will give you a 20% discount on their fees if you pay within the first 30 days of service. All you have to do is ask.
If you are to be in a hospital or surgery center and you will not be using your insurance, you can negotiate with them. You can start by offering 60% of their fee and then settle on paying 70% of their fee.
If you have Medicare and your doctor/medical professional does not take Medicare, ask for a discount. It may not always work but it's worth trying.
Doctors, hospitals, surgery centers and other medical professionals would much rather be paid upfront so if you do not have insurance and are negotiating a cash pay, you are in a pretty good position to negotiate a discount.
You can always ask for a payment plan. I have done this myself. Not a discount but at least you don't have to pay everything up front.

My insurance wouldn't pay either, but Merck had a program to furnish it to patients in those circumstances. Don't think we ever had to buy a single dose - they mailed them to me before each scheduled chemo. Your doc should contact them for you an arrange that.

Negotiating fees are, at this stage, limited to your discussions with hospitals, and providers. Manged care firms negotiate with the buyers of the plans, which are the company or government sponsors of those plans. So, the providers or hospitals with from which you are receiving treatment may be amenable to negotiation depending upon your income and how high your deductibles and/or co-pays are. It's a delicate discussion of course, but you may be able to approach, say, the billing office. The concept of Consumer Directed Healthcare is not to make things easier or more economical for a member/patient: In reality it's just more verbiage used in shifting the costs of healthcare onto the wallets and purses of those members/patients.

Here is some more information from the American Society of Clinical Oncology that might be helpful: http://www.cancer.net/patient/All+About+Cancer/Managing+the+Cost+of+Cancer+Care/Financial+Resources

Medicare offers a hospice benefit and many employer or private health insurance plans also include hospice benefits, although coverage for services varies.

For more about hospice, see our article: http://www.cfah.org/hbns/preparedpatient/Vol4/Prepared-Patient-Vol4-Issue3.cfm