Cancer Insurance Leads

For agents searching for cancer insurance leads, having updated information on cancer insurance facts will help drive them in the right direction to assisting consumers in need of affordable insurance.

According to a nationwide American Cancer Society study, consumers who are uninsured and those individuals who fall under Medicaid coverage are more apt than those with private insurance to get a diagnosis of cancer in late stages. This oftentimes lessens their chances of surviving the disease.

The study also noted that African Americans had a larger risk of late diagnosis, even after accounting for their disproportionately large rates of being uninsured and underinsured.

According to the study's authors, the disparity could be the result of a lack of health literacy and an inadequate supply of providers for minority communities.

Prior studies have reported a tie between insurance status and the stage of diagnosis for some cancers. The new research analyzed 3.7 million patients who obtained diagnoses over a six-year period from 1998 to 2004.

The study noted that the greatest disparities were for cancers that could be found early via standard screening or assessment of symptoms.

These cancers would include breast cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer and melanoma. For each, uninsured patients found themselves two to three times more likely to be diagnosed in Stage III or Stage IV as opposed to Stage I. Lessened disparities were discovered for non-Hodgkins lymphoma and cancers of the bladder, kidney, prostate, thyroid, uterus, ovary and pancreas.

According to the study's authors, they concluded that, "individuals without private insurance are not receiving optimum care in terms of cancer screening or timely diagnosis and follow-up with health care providers.' They added advanced-stage diagnosis, "leads to increased morbidity, decreased quality of life and survival and, often, increased costs.'

"There's evidence that not having insurance increases suffering,' added Dr. Otis Brawley, the American Cancer Society's chief medical officer.

Not all cancer researchers believe that comprehensive screening and early detection is universally the best answer.

Some of these individuals contend that with certain cancers, such as melanoma and prostate cancer, it can be a precursor to misdiagnosis and over diagnosis, with doctors identifying and treating tumors that might never actually lead to serious problems. In some instances, surgery and drug therapies may actually lessen a person's lifetime.

Agents Can Be Go-To People for Cancer Insurance

Agents who provide quality and affordable service can find themselves the go-to people when it comes to selling cancer insurance. As more people deal with cancer in their lives, finding affordable care becomes paramount.

According to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the American Cancer Society, cancer patients can face major challenges in paying for life-saving care. This can lead to running up large debts, filing for bankruptcy and even putting off or forgoing possible life-saving treatment, even when they have private health coverage.

The report focused in on 20 patients and highlighted the potential problems people diagnosed with cancer or other serious medical issues can face in maintaining affordable health insurance and paying for their needed health care.

Even though these patients had private health insurance at the time of their diagnosis, they still faced major out-of-pocket costs. The end result was large debts occurred to fund their treatment costs, in some cases forcing them to postpone or delay needed treatments.

According to Kaiser Family Foundation President and CEO Drew Altman, "The stories of people with cancer in this study and video documentary show what our earlier survey work found: that the insurance system often fails people when they need it most, when they get really sick.' Agents can take wind of this and look for cancer insurance leads where they can provide needed and affordable coverage.

The study focused in on five important gaps in the health care system leaving people with cancer and other life-threatening diseases in financial danger due to their diagnosis:

• High cost-sharing, caps on benefits place cancer patients in a vulnerable position. As an example, a Florida woman went over $75,000 in debts once her breast-cancer treatment expenses topped her policy's annual limit;
• Individuals with employer-sponsored coverage might not have protection from catastrophically high health care costs should they become too sick to go to work. As an example, a Pennsylvania woman, unable to work as a result of undergoing late-stage colon cancer, missed the two-month deadline, leading to problems affording the premiums and cost-sharing of her less comprehensive individual policy;
• Cancer patients and survivors oftentimes cannot find adequate and affordable coverage in the individual market. As an example, a decade after a Texas man was treated for early prostate cancer, he still cannot find affordable health coverage and pays for one-fourth of his family's income in premiums for a high-deductible plan;
• High-risk insurance pools are not available to all cancer patients, with some finding the premiums difficult to meet. For example, an Indiana breast cancer survivor has seen high costs prevent her from enrolling in a high-risk pool after finding out her individual policy only paid $250 toward her radiation treatment;
• Waiting periods, strict restrictions on eligibility, or delayed application for public programs can leave individuals who are too ill to work without an affordable insurance option. As an example, cancer patients too sick to work may qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance income and, following two years of receiving this money, may qualify for Medicare coverage. During the waiting period, patients oftentimes see decreased incomes and may not be able to afford private coverage. This scenario happened to a North Carolina truck driver who has not been employed since being diagnosed with late-stage kidney cancer. He became eligible for SSDI benefits two years ago, but does not yet meet the qualifications for Medicare benefits.