cost of chemotherapy

Do you understand how cancer grants work?

You could be missing out on a lot of financial help if you don’t fully understand how cancer financial grants work.

There are retro rules for each grant, “back door” ways to get approved even if they say the funding is closed for the specific grant you are needing to apply to, and different names for the drugs you may be receiving (grants may be listed under the brand name OR the generic name) …….

**Chemotherapy and drug co-payment assistance grants have specific time deadlines and depending on the Foundation program may only go retro for 30-180 days (some go a year retro) from your “approved” date, so it is VERY important to apply for these right away.

Make sure you fully understand how the grants work BEFORE applying for any grants!

Check out our…….

Chemotherapy and Drug Grant Overview Page to understand the entire process

**Join our FREE private Breast Cancer Financial Help and Resources – Cancer Butterfly Facebook Group to ask questions, share info, and get in the info sharing first hand 🙂

Click the compass below to check out all of our other FREE resources:

Steps leading up to my Breast Cancer diagnosis

Image result for footprints in the sand

I first noticed the lump in my right breast while on vacation over the summer with my family. Once we returned home, I made an appointment with my doctor.

They were certain it was NOT cancer but sent me to get a mammogram just to be sure. The mammogram came back with abnormalities. They did an ultrasound that same day on the breast.

They told me they wanted me to come back for a biopsy the next week, they kept saying they were sure it was not cancer, “I was too young, it didn’t run in my family, I don’t fit the profile, blah, blah, blah…”

I went back the next week and had the biopsy on a Wednesday and by Friday afternoon ten minutes before needing to leave to pick up my daughter at kindergarten my doctor’s office called with the horrible news…… I do indeed have breast cancer.

And let me tell you….. the world stopped….. you hear of people saying the “world just stopped”, and it really did….dead silence, I had to remind myself to breathe…

I was and still am shocked! I had my first baseline mammogram at age 35 and it was fine. I was 40 years old when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I am now happy to say I am a seven year breast cancer survivor 🙂

To help ease your burden as you go through cancer treatment we have a lot of resources available to help with out of pocket costs for hospital tests, chemotherapy cost, chemotherapy side effects, and radiation treatment costs.

Click the compass below to check out all the FREE Resources available on CancerButterfly.com to help you through your cancer treatment:

Save money on out of pocket Hospital bill co-pays

As you go through cancer treatment you will accumulate a lot of various individual bills for hospital services. These services may include lab work, MRI, PET scan, echocardiogram, ultrasounds, X-rays, Mammograms, biopsies, genetic tests, surgery, and any other large test performed at the hospital.

The costs of all these tests can REALLY add up! Usually your health insurance company will have negotiated the rates on these services with your hospital, but you may still have quite a bit to pay out of pocket on your co-pays.

The amount I owed the hospital for my out of pocket co-pay cost for all my breast cancer related hospital expenses was $1,594.88. Thankfully, I learned how to apply for a discount on these costs and luckily was able to receive a 54% discount off of that amount, so then I only owed $726.22!

When you also have out of pocket co-pays and deductibles to pay for chemotherapy and radiation treatment, all the out of pocket costs can really start to add up! So anywhere you can save money helps a lot! Thankfully, there is financial help for cancer patients!