Mesothelioma Financial Assistance
Treating mesothelioma is expensive. You want the best care possible, but costs can be prohibitive. Financial help is available if you know where to look. We’ve compiled a list of mesothelioma financial resources for patients and their families.
Mesothelioma Help Center provides information about mesothelioma diagnosis, treatment, and financial and legal assistance. On this site you can learn about asbestos exposure and the different types of mesothelioma, connect with local mesothelioma medical experts, and find ways to pay for treatment.
Mesothelioma Treatment Costs
Even if you have the physical and mental strength to fight mesothelioma, the disease’s financial burden can be overwhelming. It’s not uncommon for treatment costs to reach hundreds of thousands of dollars or even a million dollars or more. But we can help you find ways to pay for the care you need.
The most common mesothelioma treatments include chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation therapy. Costs vary by patients but typically run:
- $30,000 – $50,000 for an 8-week round of chemo
- $30,000 – $40,000 per surgical procedure
- $8,000 – $12,000 per radiation treatment course
For patients who require multiple rounds of treatment, costs will continue to grow. There are also medical costs such as:
- Prescription medication
- Follow-up doctor visits
- Imaging tests and other screenings
- Biopsies
- Lab tests
In addition to these costs, there are many hidden or unforeseen expenses that patients may not initially anticipate. They include:
- Travel to and from cancer centers
- Lodging, meals, and car rental while traveling
- Caregivers and counselors
- Lost income due to an inability to work
Patients may also wish to pursue alternative treatments like:
- Acupuncture
- Homeopathy
- Reiki
- Massage
- Dietary supplements
- Yoga and other mind-body practices
- Creative therapy
The more comprehensive your mesothelioma treatment, the less likely your health insurance is to pick up the entire bill—assuming you have insurance. Many Americans have no health insurance or are underinsured.
You shouldn’t have to choose between monetary considerations and your health. By obtaining financial assistance for your mesothelioma, you may not have to.
Financial Assistance Options
Financial assistance for mesothelioma treatment is available from many different public and private sources. Depending on the source, you might be able to get money to pay for specific treatment costs, obtain a lump sum payment, or receive free or discounted services. We recommend that you pursue financial help from multiple sources in order to meet your needs.
Some of the entities that offer financial assistance to mesothelioma patients are listed below. The list, while not exhaustive, is a good starting point for those looking to reduce their disease cost burden.
Non-Profit Organizations
These groups raise money that they put towards providing financial and other support to people with cancer.
Charities
These are entities that make it their primary goal to assist those suffering from cancer with their financial and practical needs. These non-profit groups raise funds to help people with cancer and mesothelioma cope with their ailment and to help them cover the expenses that come with living with such a disease.
CancerCare
Cancer Care offers free counseling, support, and education, as well as financial and co-pay assistance, to cancer patients and their caregivers and loved ones. Their website has a section dedicated to mesothelioma.
Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF)
The Patient Advocacy Foundation provides patients with arbitration, mediation, and negotiation to settle issues involving care access, medical debt, and job retention related to their illness. They also help patients find financial help for medication co-pays and identify care options for the uninsured.
Grants
Companies that offer grants to mesothelioma patients help to cover not only the cost of some treatments but also to cover other expenses that include travel costs to get to a mesothelioma specialist, and other similar expenditures. Some grants also offer funds to help patients cover basic needs such as rent, utilities, and the like.
Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (MARF)
The Meso Foundation is dedicated to ending the suffering caused by mesothelioma. In addition to providing research grants, the group offers a patient travel grant of up to $1,000 to cover expenses incurred by a patient who must travel to receive expert care.
Government
The government has a number of programs that help people who can’t afford healthcare costs.
Health Resources and Service Administration
HRSA’s Bureau of Primary Health Care gives money to medical centers that offer healthcare to low-income patients.
Medicaid
Medicaid is a federal and state health insurance plan that covers medical costs for those unable to afford healthcare. If you were diagnosed with mesothelioma and are uninsured, Medicaid might be able to help.
National Organizations
These are non-profit entities that are similar to charity groups but focus more on research with some of the funds that are raised diverted to financial assistance for cancer patients.
HealthWell Foundation
The HealthWell Foundation provides assistance with prescription copays, health insurance premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and travel costs to underinsured patients with chronic or life-altering diseases.
Corporate Angel Network (CAN)
The Corporate Angel Network provides cancer patients with free flights to treatment centers nationwide. Qualified patients are matched with empty seats on private and corporate planes.
Other Types Of Assistance
The following organizations provide assistance with lodging, transportation, nutrition, and other treatment-related costs.
Cancer Financial Assistance Coalition (CFAC)
CFAC does not directly give patients financial help, but it directs them to organizations providing financial and practical help to cancer patients. Search for ways to receive assistance with co-pays, home care, housing, medication, travel, and many other treatment-related products and services.
Hope Lodges
Funded by the American Cancer Society, Hope Lodge offers cancer patients and their caregivers a free place to stay when they are traveling to another city for treatment. There are more than 30 Hope Lodge locations throughout the United States.
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