How Have the Costs of Cancer Impacted You?

The American Cancer Society and the Kaiser Family Foundation released a report titled “Spending to Survive” illustrating the financial burdens faced by cancer patients, who often face enormous medical costs even when they have health insurance. People often ask me why the financial eligibility criteria for our Sharing Hope financial assistance program are so high ($75-100,000 for women and $50-75,000 for men) and this is exactly why. Everyone knows that the cost of cancer is high, if you don’t have insurance. But few people know that even with insurance, people are spending so much. These costs coupled with cost of sperm banking ($1,500), egg and embryo freezing ($15,000), surrogacy ($100,000) or adoption ($25,000) can make parenthood after cancer unattainable. How have you been impacted by these costs?