Archive for July 28th, 2008

There's something nobody talks about when it comes to cancer -- the cost.

My Dad's cancer treatment costs approximately $12k-15k PER WEEK. He is looking at a minimum of one year of this intensive type of care, and then if all goes well it might drop down to the neighborhood of $5k a week for the rest of his life.

Even with good insurance, there is a $2500 deductible once a year (twice this year as the office changed insurance companies mid-stream) and an out of pocket maximum. But in between, the insurance covers only 80% of his costs. Chemo is $10k per treatment (once a week) and then there are CT scans, specialist visits, very specialized blood tests, and multiple surgeries. In all, my parents are looking at around $60k per month, or three quarters of a million dollars this year alone. Insurance pays 80% of that, which leaves them with $150k to pay out of pocket every year. I know very few people who make that kind of money. And as they are both employed, they do not qualify for ANY assistance.

I now understand why people divorce in order to allow the non-sick partner to keep the home and not be saddled with insurmountable medical bills after the other partner's death.

This system is ridiculous, and certainly not very "focused on the family."

If you want to help them, there's a Paypal link below.

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