Cancer Patients Without Insurance

Thursday, September 7th, 2000 at 11:53 am

EXT Insurance Advocates for Cancer Patients

Insurance Representation for Securing the Best Possible Medical Treatment

Cancer â€“ a word shrouded with stress, anxiety and fear. Numerous questions swirl around at a dizzying pace within oneâ€™s mind. "What will the treatment be like? Will there be side effects? How much will treatment cost? Will I be able to work? Will I lose my job? How long will the treatment process take? Will my medical insurance cover the cost â€“ all the costs? Will life or death be the ultimate result?" How can any patient with this ocean of uncertainty properly advocate for himself? Herself? How many people really understand their medical insurance policies to begin with?

The Need for Medical Insurance Advocates

Even if a patient does understand the elements of his or her policy, with the intense amount of emotional and mental stress a diagnosis of cancer plunges a patient into, it would logically follow that the ability to focus clearly is severely minimized and constrained. The ability to cope with the stress of scrutinizing the fine details of an insurance policy is compromised as well. How can any patient under intense turmoil advocate efficiently for himself? Herself?

Elements of Advocacy

Advocacy involves some of the following elements:
1. Attention to detail;
2. The ability to analyze language and concepts;
3. The ability to communicate efficiently orally and/or via the written word;
4. The ability to sustain mental and emotional alertness for large time spans;
5. The skills to case manage all the components associated with the subject in question, in this case the diagnosis and treatment of cancer;
6. To recognize and cope with conflicts;
7. To confront when necessary; and
8. Given that this is a partial list of characteristics, an advocate must possess enough energy to follow through with the aforementioned components as well as those not mentioned.

The Side Effects of Cancer Treatment

Chemotherapy, surgery and radiation therapy all have consequences. Some are immediate, some are manifested late and some are long-term.

Side Effects may include some of the following, but are not limited to:
1. Tiredness to extreme tiredness;
2. Queasiness;
3. Needing to regurgitate;
4. Subtle to profound hair loss;
5. Memory problems; and
6. Even the occurrence of another form of cancer.

Because there are diverse dynamics involved with side effects, just which ones will emerge cannot be ascertained specifically. Given this information, how can any cancer patient adequately advocate for himself? Herself? Therefore, to ensure that the cancer patient has the opportunity to receive the best medical treatment possible, the services of an objective advocate is necessary. An advocate, who, though in the midst of the problem, is able to remain objective. An advocate who is able to uphold the clientâ€™s as well as the clientâ€™s familyâ€™s best interests to the appropriate stakeholders, throughout the duration of the diagnostic/treatment phases.

Sources

www.qai.org.au. , written for a website, no author or date.
www.advocacystrategies.com. , written for a website, no author or date.
www.mayoclinic.com., written for a website, no author or date.
www.cancerandcareers.org.,written for a website, no author or date.

About the Author

Joe marc is a highly qualified doctor and has successfully treated large number of cancer patients . His service has been extremely beneficial and has brought smiles to many patients. He also provides free advice for cancer patients to overcome their problem.

Isent it weird how suddenly people started dropping like flies when the healthcare debate started?

I mean, as far as I can tell things were pretty good. Survival rate was high for most bad illnesses like cancer, heart attack, ect. And sure people paid a little extra. But hey, we were healthy and had a really good life expectancy.

Then all of a sudden Obama started on about how we need a public option... Suddenly people began during left and right on the news! Hospitols began to illegaly turn away patients. Life expectancy droped..

What happened? Is it cause we scared the doctors? Did insurance agencies jack up their prices 500%? What could it be that is causeing this change?

Is it cause the TV box says you need it? Is it cause you brainlessly fallow what it says without thinking?

Nah couldent be...
Edit: SunShine. I refuse to take the NYT and MSNBC as crediable sources. Both swing so far to the left it would make Obama seem conservative.

Well I guess that's the definition of the word: Irony

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