Wednesday, April 18, 2018
The Cost of Cancer
We as Canadians take for granted that our healthcare is subsidized. I know I do. As a regular user of our health care system, I have seen how not having to pay out of pocket for care is a tremendous help. I do not know what I would have done if I had to shell out for care when I was younger. My life would have been dramatically different. Now that I am part of the insurance industry, I get to see the staggering costs of our subsidized healthcare system. I also get to see the staggering stats about diseases, health, and death. Today I am going to talk a little bit about cancer and the financial burden associated with this disease. I wish I didn’t have to speak about this but sadly I see the after-effects of this terrible disease all around me.
The Emotional Cost
I write this first because it is obviously the most important part. For the patient and their families, cancer is an absolute nightmare. The constant appointments, testing, treatments, and rehabilitation is exhausting. Even more terrible is the uncertainty of it all. Despite having world-class doctors and a great health care system, cancer is largely an unknown. While doctors can help you dramatically with your current situation, they do not know what the future holds. They also do not know how you will react to treatment. This can be emotionally devastating to the patient. It is even more emotionally devastating to the loved ones of the patient who often get hit harder with every diagnosis. Cancer is truly a family disease, meaning when one person has it, everyone feels it. This is a huge price to pay and no amount in dollars can equate.
The Financial Cost
I would be remiss if I did not mention the financial burden brought on by cancer. While I have mentioned that our healthcare is heavily subsidized it does not cover many of the costs brought on by this devasting disease. Here are just a few of the costs not covered when fighting cancer.
Prescription Drugs
This one bothers me quite a bit. For some reason, our country, which I love, is the only country in the industrialized world with universal healthcare and no universal prescription coverage. While you may have coverage through work, certain cancer drugs may not be covered. Horror stories of drugs costing $8000 monthly have emerged. In my opinion, we should not have to choose between the house we live in and the drugs that can save our lives. Even more terrifying is that doctors plans of action are dictated on what treatments are available, including cost. Depending on your financial situation, you may or may not get the best course of treatment. This has nothing to do with class and everything to do with coverage.
The cost of cancer: How much do cancer drugs cost Canadians? – Global News
Alternative Treatments
Seeking the treatment of experimental doctors is also not covered. While the term “experimental” may seem scary, all it means is a treatment not approved fully by our system. Our healthcare system regulates who they will and will not cover and when the tax buck is involved, scrutiny is involved. If I have a life-threatening disease, I know I would want many opinions on the course of action I should take. That includes those that the government has not fully approved yet.
Transportation and Parking
Excuse my language, but why the fuck do we have to pay for parking at hospitals? Grandpa must shell out $20 a day while he visits his dying wife? $20 a day equals $600 a month. Pretty disgusting isn’t it? Travel expenses can really add up as well. Living in London, Ontario we see people coming from all around Southern Ontario to seek treatment in our world-class medical facilities. This means that the beds at the Ronald McDonald House are always full. This means that the hotels near the hospitals are as well. There is also the case of those who seek treatment out of province or out of the country. If you were told that going to the cancer center in Minneapolis was your best course of action, what would you do? These are all very tough things to think about, but they are real.
Missed Work
Seeing someone at work while going through chemotherapy breaks my heart. I envision Cancer treatment as a time of recovery, rehabilitation, and relaxation. For many, it is a time of business as usual because they have no other choice. Having to miss work days can really add up. We all have bills to pay and as I have mentioned, cancer only adds to that. Some people have remortgaged their home to pay for cancer treatment. Others have pulled from their investments including their retirement nest egg. Missing work and adding extra costs is a recipe for disaster especially when cancer treatment can go on for months or even years.
Financial hardship of cancer in Canada: a call for action – Canadian Cancer Society
What do we do?
What if I told you there is a product you can purchase that would pay you a lump sum, 30 days after you are diagnosed with cancer. Here we go, insurance talk again. While my job may seem like it is about pushing a product, I look at it more of finding solutions to problems. Everything I have mentioned in this post so far is a problem. Covering yourself against cancer is the solution. Why is this important to me? This is very important to me because I cannot get this form of coverage. I do not qualify medically. Because I have Ulcerative Colitis and therefore a heightened risk of getting cancer, the insurance company won’t give me cancer coverage. Ain’t that a bitch? I would pay just about anything to get this coverage, luckily for healthy people, it isn’t that expensive at all. I have clients who stalled or abandoned their retirement plans because of cancer. I have clients with mortgages in their 60’s because of cancer. I know for a fact that a fat cheque from the insurance company would have made their lives a little easier. What if I told you that if you never claimed on this form of insurance, you would get all your money back? Seems to good to be true right? Well, it’s not and that is why I am devasted that I cannot obtain Critical Illness Insurance. If diagnosed, I want to recover on my terms and not have to choose between burdening those around me or giving up on the fight. Many choose to give up rather than being a burden and that is heartbreaking.
I believe in 4 primary focuses when it comes to personal finance. Positive cashflow including liquid savings. Retirement savings to live a life of dignity in old age. Life insurance to not leave anyone having to settle my estate from their own pocket. Finally, paycheque protection to protect my most valuable asset, my ability to work as hard as I do right now. Critical Illness falls into the last part, paycheque protection. Does it cost money? Yes, it certainly does. But so does everything else in this post and that is why I mentioned them. So does coffee, clothes, beer, electricity, haircuts, televisions, cell phones and many other things we spend our money on that won’t mean a thing when we get diagnosed with cancer. 1 in 2 of us will be diagnosed cancer in our lifetime. We don’t see commercials with Britney Spears high-fiving Beyonce for critical illness insurance like you do with Pepsi. Maybe we should.
“Universal coverage, not medical technology, is the foundation of any caring health care system.” – Richard Lamm
[contact-form][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Do you want to learn more about Critical Illness Insurance?” type=”text” required=”1″][/contact-form]
Email – joe@budgetboss.ca
Follow Budget Boss on – Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Instagram Pinterest Quora