Please excuse my whining...

oh DS...I am so sorry for how you are feeling....and it is NOT whining! Money problems are always such a heavy load to bear....and sometimes it never seems that we are in a better financial situation.

I am Canadian, so I don't know how your health coverage works...but is there any way that the follow ups are cost free or at least less costly?

That being said....if you had waited, it could have gone to more than stage 1 and ended up costing you a lot more. Don't feel stupid...hindsight is 20/20 and we all make decisions that we second guess. I think you made the best choices.

I hope you find your way out of this regret.

Hugs,

Jojo

Ds.  I'm so sorry that you are feeling down due to financial problems.  You are SOOOOOO not alone.  This disease has devastated more than the health of some individuals.  We don't talk very much on this thread about financial matters, but I am sure you are not alone.  My husband turned 65 right before his diagnosis and except for the medications, Medicare has been wonderful.  I don't know how far you are away from turning 65, but we have had no problems whatsoever with obtaining care and no coPays.  On the other hand, unexpected loss of income, has devastated us.  We never had a Plan B, but we are working on that now.  We even have to sell our home.  Just cannot afford the way we were living.  Regarding the choice you made to have surgery and not wait..........you did the absolute right thing.  You were advised by professionals.  You are probably just having these thoughts because you are feeling down.  All the what-ifs!  Try to put those thoughts out of your mind.  Trust me when I say you really wouldn't want to be Stage 4.  I hope you will feel better soon.  Thankyou for posting.

DSFrey said:

I do have insurance through

I do have insurance through my employer, the deductible is obscene though. I have scans scheduled this June but there is no way I'm going to be able to cover 100% of the cost. At the present I'm living pay check to pay check, no savings what so ever, its all gone. I'll have to talk with someone at the cancer center to see if they offer some kind of affordable payment plan that doesn't require a large deposit up front but I'm not holding my breath on it. If they can't help I'll just have to reschedule for another 6 months and see where things stand then. We do have a University hospital that offers free or nearly free care but to qualify for that I would have to quit my job. That's not a solution when I have rent and food to buy to actually live.

DS, not sure I understand why you would have to cover the entire scan cost. Even with a large deductable they insurance should cover some of it, no? And if you can't afford a CT scan, get an ultrasound. That is much cheaper and in low stage RCC it's perfectly acceptable follow up. It's what Sloan Kettering is doing with me, not CT scans. But please look into perhaps getting a payment method. You cannot ignore this is give up on follow ups. It's important that you get checked. I'm so sorry you have to stress over this. It's not whining; it's a realistic worry.

I feel your pain.  Family premium is $18,000 per year. We must pay $7,000 out of pocket before benefits kick in.  When I went for my second opinion last year and scheduled surgery at Sloan Kettering in NYC, my health insurance company told me 6-7 weeks after they said the Sloan Kettering doctor and hospital were in my plan that they were NOT in my plan.  I was 2 weeks from surgery.  I read our health insurance plan documents and contract from cover to cover, and they were full of it.  I finally called a local state representative who made some calls to the higher ups at my health insurance company, and they approved my surgery at Sloan Kettering.  I sometimes wonder if if just went without insurance if I would be better off?  $25,000 per year before any benefits--what if I saved that money and put it into a special savings account for healthcare. 

Our health care system is still broken.  Obamacare caused more problems than it solved.

I pay $1380 a month for my government mandated insurance.  Just for me.  The worst part is that there was only one orthopedic doctor within a 100 mile radius who would accept this insurance.  Now I need to see an eye specialist and there isnt anyone within a 250 mile radius.   I just gave up.  I need a specialsit but they won't accept patients.    Blows my mind!  What am I paying for?  This is so screwed up.  However, my husband, who has RCC and is on Medicare only pays for medications.  

DS.  negotiate payment after you have your tests, not before.  The people in charge are much more accommodating  when they want to be reimbursed For services already rendered.  Go up the chain of command within the business office.  Always be polite.  Don't agree to any payment plans with interest.  Just refuse.  Offer to pay what they would be compensated by a government plan.  I have experience with this sort of thing on both sides of the negotiation process.

Allochka said:

Guys, the sums you mention

Guys, the sums you mention here are unbeliavable to me... I live in Northern Europe, in the part of former USSR (in Latvia). I guess here healthcare system is a bit like NHS.

if your family doc refers you to a specialist - you have to pay very small amounts for everything. But the queues are big. If you want to go fasteer - you pay yourself, bur also rather reasonable amounts. Abdominal US at a very good clinic - 45 EUR. Chest x-ray - 15 EUR. When my fiance had contrast CT, it cost around 100 Eur, and insurance covered it. Insurance which costed him  around 200 EUR per year.

and for oncological patients standart  treatments are FOR FREE. His surgery didn't cost us a cent !

I'm amazed at the difference in health care systems. Of course ours has many problems. Some state of art treatments are not readily avbl, maybe. Lines to see a specialist are long. The money government assigns for healthcare from our taxes  are not enough. But stil...

DS, above you've received a great suggestion to have ultrasound follow-up for abdomen. You can do similar with chest - have an x-ray, not a CT. Much cheaper, I guess. Don't be sorry you've had surgery - it saved your life and gave you a second chance!

Healthcare is regarded as a breach of individual human rights

DSFrey said:

I don't have a copay, just a

I don't have a copay, just a deductible and an annual out of pocket maximum. I have to pay the deductible, $2750, before my insurance begins to pay anything. After I've paid $2750, then my insurance covers 75%. After I've paid the annual maximum, $5000, then my insurance covers 100%. I do start the year with $250 in a health reimbursement account (HRA) that automatically gets applied to the deductible but even still that will not be nearly enough to cover the cost of the chest and abdominal ct scans. US could be an option for the abdominal scan, I'll have to confer with the oncologist. But of course even arranging to see the doc before my scans will take from my HRA leaving me to pay more out of pocket for the chest scan. Maybe I should move to Canada. How long does one have to live there before you qualify for health care? I'm being faceitious of course, I could never afford to leave my home town.

Maybe get a part time job? Just messing with ya pay what you can afford its better to be alive and owe money then it is to be below ground and owe nothing.

DSFrey said:

I don't have a copay, just a

I don't have a copay, just a deductible and an annual out of pocket maximum. I have to pay the deductible, $2750, before my insurance begins to pay anything. After I've paid $2750, then my insurance covers 75%. After I've paid the annual maximum, $5000, then my insurance covers 100%. I do start the year with $250 in a health reimbursement account (HRA) that automatically gets applied to the deductible but even still that will not be nearly enough to cover the cost of the chest and abdominal ct scans. US could be an option for the abdominal scan, I'll have to confer with the oncologist. But of course even arranging to see the doc before my scans will take from my HRA leaving me to pay more out of pocket for the chest scan. Maybe I should move to Canada. How long does one have to live there before you qualify for health care? I'm being faceitious of course, I could never afford to leave my home town.

DS,

I am new to this forum and just had a partial for a stage 1 tumor as well.  Two things:

1) There is no question you did right by having the surgery.  It never makes sense to give cancer a chance.  Only perhaps if you were quite elderly or physically compromised to a point where major surgery is too great a risk.  Otherwise... you have it removed posthaste.

2) Check with your state and your employer's HR department about how you insurance agency is administering your policy.  It could be they are over zealously pressuring you... . 

Andrew