Financial

There are many resources out there for free or low-cost screening, including the American Cancer Society (cancer.org) and locally, the Georgia Cancer Foundation (www.gacancerfoundation.org).

The best resource is your member summary of benefits booklet. You may also contact the member services number on your insurance card for more detailed coverage information. Most plans cover a portion of the office visits, chemotherapy services, injectable drugs, and laboratory charges that will be billed to your insurance by your oncologist.

You are responsible to pay the co-pay your insurance company requires for each visit, including labs and infusions.

In general, yes. Refer to your member summary of benefits booklet for more information.

Not always. Some insurance plans may not cover certain injectable “specialty” drugs administered by the oncologist, so you should always check with your plan before these are ordered or administered in the office. Your plan may pay radiation oncology differently than chemotherapy. You may have higher co-pay for a specialist than you would with your PCP, and you may have to meet a deductible or pay a higher “co-insurance” percentage for chemotherapy.

Each clinical trial is different, and cost depends upon the drug or therapy and diagnostic studies involved. The sponsor of the trial determines what is billed to insurance and what is provided by the study. All of those issues will be discussed in detail with you if you are eligible and choose to participate in a clinical trial.