New Tool for Estimating Cancer Care Costs

Have you ever considered how you’d be able to manage the financial burdens of paying for a serious emergency?  Dealing with a life-limiting condition like kidney and liver failure, heart disease, and other problems can be very costly.  Medical problems in general can be expensive, but in terms of sheer expense, cancer can be one of costliest diseases you can have.

Take a moment to think about some of the basics you have to pay for to treat cancer, including:

• Doctor’s appointments
• Lab tests
• Clinic treatments
• Procedures
• Surgery
• Medicine

The list goes on from there.  A lot of people are unsure of how to bring up finances with their doctors and insurance company, even though it’s something every cancer patient has to deal with.  There is some financial help for cancer patients available, but most will have to look for their own ways to fund their treatment.  Selling your life insurance policy can be an excellent way to offset certain cancer costs.

Making a sound financial decision about your cancer treatment plan may sound difficult, but a recent development may help make it easier.  Oncologists and researchers from the University of Chicago have created a tool to estimate the general expense of a cancer diagnosis and treatment. With the help of over 150 cancer patients, and their own experiences financing their treatment, they developed the Comprehensive Score for Financial Toxicity (COST).

On average, cancer survivors have higher medical expenses, usually as much as $3,000 to $4,000 every year, compared to average medical expenses of other life-limiting conditions.  This is an issue because many cancer patients have decreased income due to an inability to return to work, or the need to reduce hours to continue with treatments.  The study showed that the problems associated with cancer costs aren’t limited to people of a certain income level. People from all walks of life have problems managing medical costs.  Sometimes patients that have higher income levels opt for more expensive treatments and assume that they can afford them. Unfortunately, as costs pile up, they end up finding themselves in debt.

COST is designed to give people a realistic and affordable way to plan for cancer care costs.  As health care prices rise, it will become more difficult to find a way to budget for care.  This tool can help make a lot of difficult financial decisions a little easier to handle.

Medical Bills Piling Up? Get the Funds in Ways You Haven't Imagined

When medical bills start to pile up, the idea of paying them can seem like a daunting mountain to climb. If you’ve found yourself in some major medical debt due to a life-threatening illness, there may be more options than you recognize. Never fear! There may still be hope, regardless of how high that mountain is.

Crowd-Sourcing Websites

Crowd-sourcing websites have become a very popular way to fund projects for all sorts of things. Just a simple search of Kickstarter will yield results of some pretty varied things that people can invest in. In much the same way, crowd-sourcing websites with charitable purposes have sprouted up all over the Internet. Sites like The Chive Charities have had extraordinary success, not only meeting their goals, but also exceeding them by a lot.

Viatical Settlement

When you have a life insurance policy, you may not think of it very much. For most people, it’s the furthest thing from their mind, but if you have a life-threatening illness, it may be the one thing that can keep you from crippling debt. A viatical settlement allows a policyholder to sell off their insurance policy for a percentage of what the payout would be. The policyholder is then able to receive a lump sum and can use that to pay for their medical bills.

Grants

If you’re in need of money for medical treatments, it can be a good idea to reach out to local charities and non-profit organizations that may be able to help you. For example, if you have cancer, you may be able to receive a grant from the American Cancer Society in order to fund your procedures.

Charities

A lot of people may see taking charity as a sign of weakness, but if you’re in a desperate situation, there may be no better place to turn. Charity organizations are usually set up to help those with specific needs and even local churches may divert some of their funds to helping parish members in need. It doesn’t hurt to ask and a well-written letter can do wonders.

Finding a way to pay for your medical bills can be difficult, but there are definitely options to be found. You just need to know where to look.  

What Illnesses Qualify For a Viatical Settlement?

While the idea of receiving a cash payout for your unneeded or unwanted life insurance policy can be appealing to many, not everyone is always eligible for the benefits of such a sale.  Since a viatical settlement is the process of where a person with a life-threatening illness can turn their existing policy into cash by transferring and selling the rights to another party, the question arises: what qualifies as a life-threatening illness?  While cases may vary, there are some basic illnesses that are generally considered.  Take a look below.

• Different forms of Cancer

Cancer is almost always considered a very serious illness. Whether you are diagnosed with breast cancer, liver cancer, lymphoma or prostate cancer, the treatment for these illnesses can cost heavily at times.  Facing the seemingly impossible obstacle of both being able to work and take time in order to treat the illness, those with cancer do have the option of seeking a viatical settlement.  Financial help can ease one's mind, help to eliminate stress and get you the medicine you need to fight the disease 

• HIV/AIDS

The viatical settlement movement first started in the 1980's during the AIDS epidemic.  The industry has branched out to offer buyouts for other severe illnesses as well, but HIV/AIDS is still a qualifying illness. AIDS is now the 5^th leading cause of death amongst individuals in the USA from ages 25 to 44.  The costs of medications to treat it range anywhere from $60 to as high as $15,000; a viatical settlement can be the key to getting the treatment that you need.

• Lou Gehrig’s Disease (ALS)

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is often called Lou Gehrig’s Disease is aggressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the spinal cord and brain. Those who suffer from the disease know there is no known cure or effective treatment besides medication that slows the progression which is costly. When considering the option for a viatical settlement, you could help fund research for more treatments or simply to reduce the stress of buying the medication you need.

Contact Asset Funding Corporation at (800)542-9513 to discuss the possibilities of selling your life insurance policy, and to answer any questions you may have.

Introducing the New SellYourInsurance.com

The new and improved design

SellYourInsurance.com has recently changed its website’s design in the hopes of making the site more user friendly.  Check out our updated home page that is a cleaned up version of our 2013 design. There is now more focus on the menu bar where you can easily find what you are looking for.

By hovering over the Life-Limiting Illnesses drop down tab, you will be able to see pages with new content and information on illnesses such as Cancer, HIV/AIDS, and ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease. If interested in information on a specific type of cancer, click on Life-Limiting Illnesses to peruse the list on the right hand side of the site. If you are interested in hearing about others experience with SellYourInsurance.com, look at the Case Studies and Testimonials, which can be found under the About Us drop down.

The 2013 Design

Another focus of the redesign of the site was to offer more information concerning financial professionals. By clicking on the Financial Professionals tab, there will be links to different professions. These new tabs provide information as to why it is important for professionals to learn more about life settlement policies.

The Agents and Brokers page focuses on how to decide which clients may qualify for a Life Settlement as well as benefits for financial and insurance professionals. SellYourInsurance.com offers tips on how CPA’s can solve many planning goals as well as help their senior clients by turning to life settlement policies. The Estate Planners tab references the issues concerning the distribution of estates and due diligence in reference to the Life Settlement decision. Attorneys are facing more challenges in the field of life insurance, which is why Life Settlements should be considered as an option in order to meet clients’ wishes. Assisted Living Professionals should be aware of Life Settlements in order to help their residents and their families as well as the assisted living community.

We have joined the social media conversation by creating a Google+ page. Check out our page and follow us on Google+. There is a lot to learn from the new SellYourInsurance.com. Please contact us to voice what you love and what you think we could improve upon.