Health Insurance and Financial Assistance for the Cancer Patient

As a cancer patient, you may have financial resources available to help you. Here you can learn about private health insurance, government-funded insurance plans, options if you are uninsured, financial issues and possible sources of help, health insurance risk pools, and other resources that may be available to you. Click on the topics below to get started.

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• You may not want to think about money right now, but it could become a problem
• Private health plans
• Types of health plans
• Other things to know about health insurance
• How to manage your health insurance
• Getting answers to insurance-related questions
• Keeping records of insurance and medical care costs
• When you have problems paying a medical bill
• Handling a claim denial -- what to do when insurance won`t pay for a prescribed service
• Keeping employer-sponsored health insurance coverage when you leave your job
• COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget and Reconciliation Act of 1986)
• The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
• The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993
• The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990
• The federal law that is changing health insurance: The Affordable Care Act of 2010
• Government-funded health plans
• Who regulates insurance plans?
• Options for the uninsured
• State coverage and health insurance options for the hard-to-insure
• Financial issues: Getting help with living expenses
• Viaticals and living benefits from life insurance policies
• Outside sources of financial help
• Disability benefits
• To learn more
• References