Great Advice for people with No Insurance

Medicaid
I was in the same position, was laid off and had no insurance when I was first diagnosed. Check with the hospital or cancer center where your wife will be receiving her treatment to see if they have a financial assistance department. The hospital where I received my treatment had their Medicaid specialist at the financial assistance dept contact me and she did all the work for me, I was approved within a couple of weeks and they paid some of my medical bills retroactive. If they do not have this assistance then go to your local Health and Human Services and they will tell you everything you will need to do to qualify for assistance. Please don't put this off, it is unfortunate that we find ourselves in this position but this is one of the things cancer does to people. I hated to ask for help as I had always worked and had always had my own insurance but when disaster strikes we are forced to ask for help.

Please check into this today, once you supply them with all the necessary paperwork you could be approved within a couple of weeks.

My best to you and your wife. Please post again so we know how you both are doing. We are here to help you in anyway we can.

Stay strong,
Glenna

Jimbo55 said:

Another Option
Hi and welcome to the site. Sorry that you are here. One more option would be to look at getting treatment outside the US. There are a number of countries that specialize in 'medical tourism'. Some have excellent medical facilities and the costs are substantially lower than what the same treatment costs in the US. I live and work in Thailand presently and received excellent treatment at a hospital in Bangkok. I wouldn't have elected to receive treatment here if I wasn't fully confident after meeting with the MD's and seeing the facilities. Even after figuring in the travel costs etc, the savings would still be appreciable. My diagnosis was Stage 4 base of tongue cancer and I underwent chemo and radiation treatments. I'm not sure if this would be feasible for your situation, but it is an option and can be easily researched on the internet. Cheers

Jimbo

Glenna is right
I also had stage IV tongue cancer the only good thing was that I was 21 when it happened so I was on my parent's insurance at first but in the middle of treatment things got messed up. I ended up using the state program for prescriptions and then was put on medicaid. Listen to Glenna and speak with the hospital, there are also social workers at the hospital who could help. You could also try fundraising. I worked at Ruby Tuesdays the summer before diagnosis and they had a fundraiser for me. If there are any businesses that you are close to that is also an option to help out. But don't put treatment off. Also before she gets the treatments the doctors may suggest to see a dentist depending on the treatments they want to do. The dentist looks to see if you have any problems to fix before treatment and also to help protect your teeth during treatment. Best of Luck!
Linda

connieprice1 said:

Glenna - I want to thank you
Glenna - I want to thank you for your reply. My wife applied today for financial assistance at MD Anderson Cancer Hospital in Houston, Tx. God willing, they will except her. We applied for Medicaid two days ago but was told she would be rejected before they even looked at our application. It is frustrating we applied at our local welfare office and one guy stood out to me. He had 3 kids, tattoos from head to toe and wore his pants low so his underwear was there for everyone to see. Of course he had no job so he qualified for welfare, medicaid and housing. It seemed to me that they did not understand how a person can work everyday to pay back people in business and how a person can own a business and not be able to afford insurance. It's easy to lose your insurance policy, all you have to do is miss one payment. Anyways hopefully she will be accepted and she can start treatments. I was told today by my sister (registered nurse ) that cancer travels up and that if she didn't get treatment soon it could spread to her brain. After the shock of finding out your wife has cancer, I want her to get treatment right away.

Don't understand
I don't understand how they could refuse your wife before they even read her application??? Is it because she is a Canadian citizen???

Hopefully she will be able to get financial assistance at MD Anderson, also ask the cancer center about some of the drugs she will be receiving during chemo. My chemo nurse put a request into the drug manufacturer of one of the drugs I would be receiving and they allowed me to receive it at no cost. There are several drug companies that will do that now and it is a Godsend.

I also have a list, somewhere, of different organizations that will help out cancer patients. I will look for it and post it for you.

If I think of anything else that may be of help to you I will let you know.

My best to you and your family,
Glenna

MarineE5 said:

This may be of some help
Worried Husband,

Another board member posted this information some time back and I bookmarked it for future use. It is called Social Security Compassionate Allowances, Head and Neck cancers is on the initial list of allowances. I am not sure if your wife is on Social Security yet, but this will help with some finances.

http://www.socialsecurity.gov/compassionateallowances/

This is something that Social Security started in 2008. When I had tried to apply for Social Security Disability in 2004, I was denied right away, but things have changed with this newer program. The original poster stated that the time involved was only a few weeks of waiting to be approved. I'm not sure if she would be able to then be on Medicare right away? You may have to look into that a bit further, or someone here may know the answer.

My Best to Both of You and Everyone Here

Social Security and Medicare
I was told by the financial assistant at my cancer center that if you were receiving Social Security Disability for 2 years you would automatically start receiving the Medicare benefit, you do not automatically get this.

I believe it is from the date you were approved, not the date you received your first check. I could be wrong but this is what I was told.

Hope this helps,
Glenna

MarineE5 said:

SS and Medicare
Glenna,

You are correct about the 2 year disability time frame. I think the date starts from the date of the original claim filing. My question would be if any person would be eligible sooner due to the new Compassionate Allowance system? Would a person still have to wait 2 years to receive Medicare?

I most admit that this insurance stuff is way over my head, so I don't often reply to such questions. But, I thought that the original poster on this site that mentioned the Compassionate Allowance was very helpful for future patients. We have enough on our plates when we first hear those words " You Have Cancer " and our world gets turned upside down.

My Best to You and Everyone Here

MarineE5
I don't believe you would get Medicare any sooner because of the Compassionate Allowance system as that was in effect when I was approved. All of my paperwork and filing was done electronically by the Medicaid Specialist at the hospital where I was being treated so I know it was done correctly and she is the one who explained the 2 year wait to receive Medicare. I'm like you and do not understand all the insurance paperwork so I am very grateful to this woman for all of her help. I met with her a week after I was diagnosed and she had everything approved before I started treatment which was only 3 weeks after meeting her. I would still be trying to figure out all of the forms if not for her. It would be wonderful if all hospitals had the Financial Assistance and Medicaid Specialist departments. It would especially make life easier and less stressful for anyone with a cancer diagnosis.

Stay well,
Glenna

Glenna M said:

MarineE5
I don't believe you would get Medicare any sooner because of the Compassionate Allowance system as that was in effect when I was approved. All of my paperwork and filing was done electronically by the Medicaid Specialist at the hospital where I was being treated so I know it was done correctly and she is the one who explained the 2 year wait to receive Medicare. I'm like you and do not understand all the insurance paperwork so I am very grateful to this woman for all of her help. I met with her a week after I was diagnosed and she had everything approved before I started treatment which was only 3 weeks after meeting her. I would still be trying to figure out all of the forms if not for her. It would be wonderful if all hospitals had the Financial Assistance and Medicaid Specialist departments. It would especially make life easier and less stressful for anyone with a cancer diagnosis.

Stay well,
Glenna

You still have to wait the
You still have to wait the two years even with the compassionate allowance. I lost my insurance. I was one day late on payment due to memorial day holiday. My Medicaid won't kick in until July. I did apply at the hospital and my necessary health care will be covered until May of next year so their will be a two month gap or so.

connieprice1 said:

Mike - I hope you are doing
Mike - I hope you are doing well. I read some of your posts and responses and you have definately got a positive attitude. I appreciate knowing that this could work out ok, cause I don't want to lose my partner of 25 years. Your story of treatment and all the other storys gives us hope. Thank you and I will keep posting.

Mike- Everything goes well with you
Hi Mike,
Just gone through all the post related to the story. I am independent medical tourism consultant and have ties with various established medical tourism agencies name like www.globalbenefitoptions.com . Most of these agencies have tie-up with leading hospitals of the world including Cancer hospitals. You can view these hospitals list at here http://www.globalbenefitoptions.com/medical_tourism_directory.php . Might be these are of any help for you.
In case you need any information, please feel free to ask me.

Regards,
Rita

Medicad and cancer spread
I applied for medically needy Medicaid for Jim the first week Jim was diagnosed and he was approved 45 days later. He was however on Medicare so I do not know if that made a difference.

As for the biopsy. Jim had his mid May and treatment was delayed over a month before they could start treatment do to waiting for gums to heal. He had stage 4 base of tongue with mets to two lymph nodes. As far as I know the biopsy does not spread the cancer, I believe that is a myth. Check with your doctor to be sure. Remember that nurses and even doctors who do not specialize in cancer are not specialist and can give wrong information. My mother has a nodule in her lung. She ask her grandson in law (he is a neurologist) if they could do a blood test to determine if it was cancer. He said yes. But when asking a lung cancer specialist the same question, he said no. I have also had a nurse tell me last week that a pseudocyst was not attached to my mother's pancreas. When I checked with the specialist I found out it is.

I know you are worried. Jim and I were beside ourselves with all the delays. Just remember the squeaky wheel gets oiled and don't give in to the negative information. I do not know if you believe in the power of prayer. If you do, pray and have everyone you know pray. I will also pray for a good outcome.

Blessings

Debbie