Medicaid

As with any information, the best place to go is the source! The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services(“CMS”) oversees administration of the two federally funded and supported health programs and can give you insight into how both Medicare and Medicaid work. For more information, go to http://www.cms.gov. As with any information, the best place to go is the source! The Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services(“CMS”) oversees administration of the two federally funded and supported health programs and can give you insight into how both Medicare and Medicaid work. For more information, go to http://www.cms.gov.

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 In our experience medical debt crisis is a large concerns for patients who contact Patient Advocate Foundation. Many cancer patients have inadequate insurance or none at all and due to affordability, pre-existing clauses or a multitude of other reasons find themselves in this situation upon diagnosis. Some of the areas a patient can explore depending on income, asset and qualifiers are to apply for governmental programs such as Medicaid and/or Medicare, obtaining charity care and/or financial assistance through medical facilities, and obtaining necessary medications through prescription assistance programs or other state/national medication assistance programs (www.needymeds.com). Patients can explore clinical trials as a feasible option for access to care as well. It is always important to explore insurance options such as enrolling in plans offered at their own place of employment or their spouses. Children now can remain enrolled or re-enroll in their parents plan up until age 26 under healthcare reform, explore high risk pools or pre-existing health insurance plans (www.pcip.gov) now mandated by healthcare reform in each state, guarantee issues plans, individual/group insurance, and COBRA options. Georgetown University has an excellent website, http://www.healthinsuranceinfo.net that is a state by state consumer guide on how to get and keep health insurance and addresses topics I outlined here.

If the patient is insured is underinsured meaning he/she has health insurance coverage but lacks the financial resources needed to cover out-of-pocket expenses for medical care. Or underinsured when access to medical services is inhibited as the direct result of insurance benefit exclusions the patient can follow the same options as listed above. If they are insured through an employer who offers more than one plan, they should consider switching their benefit plan to a better option come open enrollment or if there has a been a qualifying event. Also there are many co-pay relief programs available such as our own Co-Pay Relief (www.copays.org)that can offer financial relief to qualified patients.

PAF is here to provide support to any patient with cancer who has difficulty accessing care regardless of their insurance status. We can be reached at 800-532-5274.