Would You Be Ready For This? The Financial Side Of Cancer

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We consider ourselves fortunate in may ways. Yes, my husband has cancer. However, he has a job. We have health insurance that’s covering the cost of his transplant and a housing allowance during his recovery, and state disability insurance to cover a percentage of his lost wages during the time he will be unable to work.

That said, we will have to use our savings to subsidize the difference between what he will earn on state disability and what his salary would normally be. Thankfully, we have money saved. If we get into a situation where we have to pay COBRA, we will have to dip further into that savings. But it’s a far cry from being without health insurance or savings, like many Americans.

Since my husband works for a small company that doesn’t provide disability benefits of their own (true of many small employers), we are left at the mercy of the state of California’s disability plan. We don’t qualify for a private long-term disability plan because he’s already been diagnosed with cancer.

My advice to you? Get a long-term disability plan that is independent of your employer. Now, while you’re healthy.

We’ve had life insurance since our children were born, but that doesn’t help us now. It doesn’t help when I need to be a full-time caregiver and my husband will be out of work.

Fortunately, he works in a field that doesn’t require him to do physical labor, so he should be able to return to his job sooner than others in his situation. But that doesn’t make this any less stressful. If we’d had a disability insurance policy that covered the gap, it would have been one less thing for us to worry about during an already stressful time.

I used to think those AFLAC commercials just had a cute duck. Hindsight and stuff.

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Comments

[VDog]

Awww hon.

That's all I got.

XOXO

[Jeff]

Had my heart transplant on the 23rd and went on Cobra on the 27th of the same month. Oddly, I became incontinent on the 28th for some reason. Oh do I ever know this road. Cannot agree with you more. Hindsight is always the kick in the nuts we don't want or need. Hang in there and let us know if we can help, you know I am always good for an abundance of immoral support and am only matched in sarcasm by you!Stay strong and use all the help you can get.

[califmom]

I want that Aflac duck in the picture. Did you see how big he was? Fucker came up to the doorknob. That oughtta scare off some boogie men. AMIRITE?

[califmom]

I should have titled the post "One More Fucking Thing They Don't Teach You In School." What are you gonna do, right? It's not like you can take the money with you, but having a roof over your family's head while your ass is in the hospital--that's something you don't want to have to worry about. Like I said, I'm glad we have savings. But I can see how quickly a family could end up homeless. We're lucky to have medical insurance that offers us a subsidy for housing once Bob's discharged from the hospital because we'll still be supporting a second household back home where the kids will be living with family watching over them.

[Jeff]

I have heard stories of people who would divorce for the sake of showing no income or assets and then claim bankruptcy. It sucks, you are not allowed to focus on what is important (Bob's health and recovery) but transfixed on all the bullshit. I swore if I had to I would denounce my citizenship then enter back as an illegal alien just so I could get better health care than what I paid for originally. aaahahhh, I some Patron just thinking about it all again. I was in the housing at Stanford for 3 months post-transplant and had already been out of work for 15 months prior! I feel your pain, would to take out a few ins. execs just for GP's!

[Al_Pal]

You are SORITE.

*hugs*

[muskrat]

I actually don't think getting AFLAC cancer insurance is necessarily a good idea if you have much in the way of savings, but I definitely agree that long term disability and health insurance are necessities for sure. Especially for younger folks, who are way more likely to become disabled b/c of an accident or illness than they are to die (while everyone knows they need term life insurance, not everyone realizes they need LTD).

[califmom]

Good point. It's not the necessarily the cancer insurance I wish we had. It really is the LTD that would make the difference and would cover a broader range of potential issues for someone in our age bracket. (My husband was far more likely to get hurt racing dirt bikes, statistically.) As more people become self-employed or contract employees, it just makes sense to consider pursuing these benefits on your own. One more reason insurance shouldn't be tied to our employers, IMO.

[O'Neal]

We had LTD ins that finally kicked in after 4 months, and paid 60% of his regular pay, but absolutely zero in the way of savings - eek! And in the great state of NC, getting any kind of SS disability help is damn near impossible if your Dr doesn't write you off as guaranteed to die. And then even if he does, you have to live waiting to die for at least 4 years for the process to go through. I read an article in the paper about how many people were dying here, homeless on the streets waiting for SS disability- SO SO SAD! If it weren't for the kind souls at B's work looking out for us with charity events, we WOULD have been homeless! My side of the family was going thru almost the same thing at the same time with my Dad in the hospital having open heart surgery, but made sure to help as much as they could with what little they had. THAT - is true family. HIS side, on the other hand, bragged about donating all their extra $ to the local orphanage...they DID drop off a bowl of watermelon once, which I guess it was the thought that counts... My thought? Assholes.

Jeff - My hubby had the same idea about coming back as an alien to get better treatment! Except he took his AK47 with him to the SS office...LOL!

Love you Leah and thank you for keeping us all updated despite how much crap you have going on! Love you lady! XOXO