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What is Cancer Insurance?
Cancer insurance is an insurance plane designed to provide benefits to help pay for cost related to cancer treatments. Cancer insurance provides benefits only if you get cancer. No policy will cover you for cancer diagnosed before you applied for the policy. Examples of other specified disease policies are heart attack or stroke policies.
Do You Need Cancer Insurance?
The National Institute of Health estimates the overall costs of cancer in 2007 in the United States was $219.2 billion. According to the American Cancer Society, it is estimated that nearly 1.5 million new cancer cases will be reported in the United States in 2008. Men are said to have a 1 in 2 chance and women a 1 in 3 chance of developing cancer. Over 75% of reported cancer cases occurred in individuals over the age of 55.
If you are considering cancer insurance, ask yourself three questions: Is my current coverage adequate for these costs? How much will the treatment cost if I do get cancer? How likely am I to contract the disease?
Remember, cancer insurance is not the same as a major medical policy and should not be purchased as a substitute.
If you have Medicare and want more insurance, a comprehensive Medicare supplement policy is what you need.
Low-income people who are Medicaid recipients don't need any more insurance. If you think you might qualify, contact your local social service agency.
Duplicate Coverage is Expensive and Unnecessary. Buy basic coverage first such as a major medical policy. Make sure any cancer policy will meet needs not met by your basic insurance. You cannot assume that double coverage will result in double benefits. Many cancer policies advertise that they will pay benefits no matter what your other insurance pays. However, your basic policy may contain a coordination of benefits clause. That means it will not pay duplicate benefits. To find out if you can get benefits from both policies, check your regular insurance as well as the cancer policy.
Some Cancer Expenses May not be Covered Even by a Cancer Policy. Medical costs of cancer treatment vary. On the average, hospitalization accounts for 78% of such costs and physician services make up 13%. The remainder goes for other professional services, drugs, and nursing home care. Cancer patients often face large nonmedical expenses which are not usually covered by cancer insurance. Examples are home care, transportation, and rehabilitation costs.
What are the Limitations of Cancer Insurance?
Cancer insurance plans vary and can have differing limitations. For instance, some policies may only pay for hospital visits. This is important to note because many cancer treatments are given on an outpatient basis and would therefore not cover those costs.
Some policies offer an increase in benefits if you (the patient) has been hospitalize for more 90 consecutive days or longer. This sounds good in theory, but the average stay is only 13 days.
Watch out for policies with fixed dollar amounts as many plans have them. A policy might pay only up to $1,500 for surgery costs or $1,000 for radiation therapy, or it may have fixed payments such as $50 or $100 for each day in the hospital. Others limit total benefits to a fixed amount such as $5,000 or $10,000.
Cancer insurance plans generally do not pay for illnesses related to cancer such as pnuemonia.
Many policies contain time limits. Some policies require waiting periods of 30 days or even several months before you are covered. Others stop paying benefits after a fixed period of two or three years.
More information visit: http://oci.wi.gov/pub_list/pi-001.htm