The Cost of Cancer

Karen is doing well, incredibly tired but doing well. She is resting and should be able to get some much needed sleep tomorrow. She has started taking Echinacea and Pomegranate suppliments to aid overall health and build up her immune system. She already takes Omega 3, 6 Fish Oils aswell as Flax Seed, B12 and a multi-vitamin.

When Karen was initially diagnosed we made it a priority that she should receive the absolute best care available regardless of cost.

Medical bills have been trickling in and so tonight I took a look at our insurance claims. So far the amount which has been invoiced for all procedures Karen's received totals $99,738. There's no typo, almost one hundred thousand dollars.

We are going to an in-network team of doctors and hence the actual cost is lower than this due to pre-negotiated rates that our insurance company has set with the doctors. Our insurance company has paid out roughly $44,500, almost forty five thousand dollars.

Keep in mind we have not reached surgery yet.

Bottom line: Cancer treatment is incredibly expensive.

I cannot imagine going through cancer without medical insurance. Thankfully we have insurance, it's expensive but we have it. There are plenty of families that do not. When you're sick the last thing you need to worry about is the cost of treatment.

If you haven't done so recently, I encourage everyone to take a peek at the fine print of your medical coverage. Do you have an out of pocket maximum? Does your insurance have a maximum lifetime benefit? Most plans do and cancer patients can easily exceed the limit. Of course here's hoping you never need it.

I remain confident that we are getting the best treatment available to treat Karen's disease.