Coping with the Financial Burden of a Medical Crisis

The sudden onset of a medical crisis can be an enormous financial burden to a family. Even if one qualifies for social security or Medicare one must go through a lengthy process. Even if the medical condition is caused as a result of someone else's legal responsibility, such as medical malpractice or an auto accident, the daunting truth is that will often take years to get to court. In the meantime, your family may very quickly not have the necessary financial resources. We often think that in such circumstances, disability resources automatically come into play, but these resources sometimes take a while to kick in and in the meantime, you have to make some arrangements to keep yourself afloat. Secondarily, these funds are not always enough to compensate for the lack of income with unexpected medical bills to pay.

To the extent possible, investigate what disability benefits you may have via your employment. If you are no longer able to work, see if you can extend your health insurance benefits via COBRA for up to 18 months. To learn about COBRA insurance and how to preserve your insurance rights, click here. If you do not have any health insurance and cannot get insurance via a spouse or school, consider the medical resources available to the uninsured. A good article discussing this issue is here.

Also review your credit card benefits - does your card have a feature that you can delay payment during periods of disability or unemployment? Does your student loan consider periods of sickness or disability for forbearance on your student loans? Federal Stafford loans have several programs related to temporary disability, total disability, difficulty paying a loan due to having to care for a disabled spouse, or loss of employment of other financial difficulty, forms can be found on your lenders website or by visiting the Federal Student Aid information on Forbearance website here. Many bills such as your local electric company likely have websites; check them out to see how they structure payments that you can potentially have an installment plan. Many companies are willing to come up with an arrangement or refer you for public assistance if you notify them of your situation early enough. Do not wait until you are behind in your bills to contact. There are "no Shut Off" program arrangements for keeping homes heated over the winter (November to May in some New England areas) especially when an elderly person lives there, but the electric companies must be contacted early to start the process and various proof of income and forms must be provided. A list of available utility assistance programs by state is found here.

Discuss with your doctors the potentially permanency of your disability or duration of your illness so as to assess when might be a good time to start any social security disability paperwork. It is potentially a long process, so do not wait until you are already financially wiped out to start making arrangements to apply.

In the event of cancer, investigate insurance policy riders specific to cancer treatment. Medications geared at stopping the spread of cancer often run into the thousands, and this is a cost that is beyond the reach of the major of people, even if they are financial comfortable at the onset of the illness.

Policies from companies like AFLAC do offer some benefits in the case of illness or injury that cover your basic expenses while you are unable to work. This is likely a more short term illness or injury, but could help out while you are waiting for disability benefits or to recuperate. An overview of Aflac's cancer related coverage policies are found here.

Pharmaceutical companies offer many medications for free to the uninsured, some offer free or discount medications to those experiencing financial hardship. Pfizer offers free cancer medications and other medications under certain circumstances. A list of Pfizer's public assistance programs can be found here. For a list of other Pharmaceutical's free or discount drug programs, Visit http://www.ppa-rx.org for information.

While these methods cannot ensure financial solvency during an expensive medical issue, there is no shame in using resources intended to help those in financial need due to medical emergencies or chronic conditions.