Financial Considerations for Cancer Patients

Host: Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director for Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, University of Kentucky

Guest: Charles McCann, Patient Financial Counselor, University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center

Cancer Conversations Episode 42

Sometimes people who have cancer don't seek treatment because of the financial burden they are concerned that it will place on their family.  On this episode of Cancer Conversations on Talking FACS, Charles McCann shares information that can alleviate those fears as he outlines resources that are available to cancer patients and their families.

Cancer Conversations on Talking FACS is a partnership project between Family and Consumer Sciences Extension and the Markey Cancer Center.

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Online Markey Cancer Center

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    SHRINKFLATION: Increasing prices, decreasing quantity!

Tuesday Mar 07, 2023

Host:  Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist for Instructional Support, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, University of Kentucky

Guest: Dr. Nichole Huff, Extension Specialist for Family Finance and Resource Management

Season 5, Episode 27

Shrinkflation might not be a term you are familiar with, but you are probably feeling its effects.  On this episode of Talking FACS, Dr. Nichole Huff shares all about shrinkflation and its cousin, inflation, and how the two are affecting our budgets.

For more information about this topic and other MoneyWi$e topics, visit:

MoneyWi$e Newsletter

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    Dental Career Opportunities

Friday Mar 03, 2023

Host:  Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director for Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, University of Kentucky

Guest: Dr. Kenneth Nusbacher, Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, UK College of Dentistry

Dental careers are popular. Dentists are ranked highly for their work-life balance. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the growth rate for dental assistants is expected to exceed the growth rate for all occupations by three percent in the ten year period from 2021 to 2031.  On this episode of KY Smiles, Dr. Kenneth Nusbacher shares about the many dental careers and the necessary preparation they require.

For more information:

Why Be A Dentist

Dentistry at UK

Dental Assisting

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    Helping Your Child Manage Anger

Tuesday Feb 21, 2023

Host: Dr. Jennifer Hunter, Assistant Director for Family and Consumer Sciences Extension, University of Kentucky 

Guest: Dr. David Weisenhorn, Extension Specialist for Parenting and Child Development

Season 5,  Episode 26

Anger is a natural emotion.  On this episode of Talking FACS, Dr. David Weisenhorn shares strategies for helping your child process anger in healthy ways.  He provides tips for discussing situations that cause anxiety and providing children with tools to handle times when their anger might be overwhelming.

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Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome to Talking FACS and thank you for tuning in to Cancer Conversations On Talking FACS,
a podcast collaboration between the University of Kentucky,
Markey Cancer Center and the UK College of Agriculture,
Food and Environment's Cooperative Extension Service.
We will share with you the latest developments in cancer prevention diagnosis,
treatment and research from the experts at Markey Cancer Center.

(00:24):
Kentucky's only National Cancer Institute designated Cancer Center.
Talking FACS is hosted by the UK Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
Our educators share research knowledge with individuals,
families and communities to improve quality of life.
Hello and welcome to Cancer Conversations On Talking FACS.

(00:45):
This is your host,
Doctor Jennifer Hunter,
assistant Director for Family Consumer Sciences Extension at the University of Kentucky.
Today,
I'm pleased to welcome Charles mccann,
a patient financial counselor in patient financial services at the University of Kentucky Marquee Cancer Center.
Welcome Charles.
Hey,
how you doing?

(01:05):
Good,
good.
So today we're gonna talk about financial counseling,
financial service services that may be available to an individual or family that is coping with a new cancer diagnosis.
And one of the things that I've learned through this podcast series and working with Marquis is about all the wrap around services that Markem makes available to,

(01:28):
to their patients.
And then I've also learned if someone um is not a patient of Marquis,
but has been treating at an other cancer center,
that there's very similar services at cancer centers across the state.
And I assume a across the country.
But today,
we're specifically going to talk about financial counseling and I wanted to get started with the question of,

(01:48):
you know,
obviously when someone receives a cancer diagnosis,
there's no doubt that they're feeling overwhelmed and that,
that they have lots of questions.
And probably one of the big questions is how are they going to manage their medical expenses associated with their,
with their treatment?
Yes,
we do have a program is called the Financial Assistance program.

(02:11):
It's a UK internal charity program.
Um,
it's not government funded and it's,
it's,
it's a very good program actually.
Um,
you can actually have insurance and still be eligible.
It's based on household income and number of people in the household,
such as husband,
wife and minor Children.
You can have other family members such as aunts,

(02:32):
uncles,
cousins,
but they wouldn't be counted as household members.
It would just be husband,
wife and minor Children,
biological or legal.
You may have legal custody or guardianship of them.
They have to be 17 years of age and younger to be counted as a household member.
And if they're over 17,
they'll have to be at least still be in high school.
And what I've learned about this,

(02:53):
you know,
being over here in the marquee location because we have different locations throughout the University of Kentucky Hospital.
Um and also um we have a location in um UK Samaritan,
UK Kentucky Clinic.
You can stop by any location.
You don't have to be limited to,
to marquee just to see me if you just happen to have an appointment in the hospital,

(03:14):
you can stop in Pavilion A.
We share the desk with registration there.
Um We have a location in Pavilion H so we have a different location that service our patients.
And what I've learned with this is that a lot of patients they will sit at home and won't,
won't allow themselves to be treated for fear of their expenses.

(03:35):
So I try to encourage them.
That's the one thing that I do is encourage them to just and at least attempt to apply for the for the financial assistance program.
It can cover up to 100%.
Oh,
wow.
Well,
yes,
of your,
of your medical expenses,
of what your,
what your insurance doesn't cover if you've been getting treated and you were not aware of the financial assistance program.

(03:56):
We can actually backdate to any active balance that you have.
If you are approved.
If you qualify,
it doesn't matter.
It can be 2021 it can be 2020.
It can be 2019 as long as it's not in collection,
we can backdate that,
that approved assistance to any active balance.
I said if the financial assistance is primary,

(04:19):
say you don't have a,
a payer,
an insurance payer and your self pay.
If the financial assistance is,
is primary,
it can cover 100% or 80% and you can apply every six months.
There's no limitations.
So a patient doesn't have to worry about.
Well,
what am I gonna do a year from now?
Or they're telling me that I have to come in for,

(04:39):
you know,
a week for the next,
you know,
six months or so forth and so on seven months or eight months,
it doesn't matter.
You can apply every six months patients to,
to go ahead and apply.
Yeah,
it's amazing to know that programs um out there like that exist because you,
you mentioned that oftentimes patients will,

(04:59):
will stay at home and they'll be somewhat in fear uh about the cost.
And as your role as a patient financial counselor,
when you meet with an individual,
what are some of the questions that they commonly ask you?
How much does this program cost?
Do I have to,
do I have to pay anything to enroll?
And I have to tell them no,
it's,
it's,
uh,
like I said,

(05:20):
it's UK charity funded.
We take down your information and the application is very simple.
It's a very simple application.
I just basically tell them that,
that no,
it's,
it's of no cost to you.
We get the application submitted.
I do encourage the patients to call me back because I am not a part of the review process.
So I don't know the outcome of the application unless you call me back in maybe two or three weeks.

(05:42):
Three or four weeks takes about that long.
I haven't called me back and if this hasn't been reviewed,
I can email the review team and have them um,
review it and get back with me.
But that's one of the questions,
um,
what is the cost?
And the other question is how much will I be covered?
And so I always like to,
you know,
explain to the patient,

(06:03):
get that out of the way because I've been doing this for actually December will be six years that I've been been in this,
this department.
And so a lot of times I can get those out before they even ask,
but those are,
those are a couple of questions to ask.
How much does it cost to,
to apply?
Um,
what are,
um,
how much will I be covered?

(06:24):
How long will it,
you know,
will it cover me?
Those are basically the three basic questions that they ask and,
and one more,
can I still be approved even if I have insurance?
Am I still eligible?
Right.
Right.
Kind of thinking about other expenses beyond medical bills that an individual may have,

(06:45):
especially if they're having to travel for treatment such as gas or lodging food.
Um,
those type things if an individual is,
is struggling just covering the expenses of being able to get to and from treatment.
Are,
are there services or programs available to help with those costs?
Uh Yes,

(07:05):
there are.
And I also get,
I get those questions a lot too.
Is there anything that you can do to assist me with,
with,
with gas?
Because I travel a long ways back and forth and how often,
you know,
they have to be treated for their um cancer.
And so I always encourage them,
I ask them,
do you know,
or have been um assigned to social work?
Sometimes they say yes and they say no and then I have to explain to them.

(07:28):
Well,
you know,
you will be assigned a social worker and I'm actually up here on the floor with the social workers and so I can reach out to the social workers and,
and,
and um ask about a specific patient and it,
and they can go meet them at their appointment.
And so if they say yes,
um I do have a social worker,
I ask them,
do they know their name?
And sometimes they do and sometimes they don't.

(07:50):
So I,
so the one thing I would like to put out there is get to know your social worker personally.
Um She is the person or he is the person that you would want to speak with about these type of resources,
whether it be lodging,
whether it be gas cars and there are other resources that I'm not familiar with that they do offer,

(08:10):
but get to know your social worker.
And when you do meet with them,
keep their number handy because they're always available.
And even if they're out,
you know,
maybe it's vacation or they are,
they can reassign you with another social worker until the social worker you've met with comes back.
So they're always available.
We've had the opportunity to interview several of the marquee social workers as guests on the podcast.

(08:35):
And like I said,
at the beginning,
I've been so impressed with all of the services that,
that marquee is able to offer to their patients and families that that are going through,
going through treatment.
Charles as we wrap up today,
kind of 15 question that came into my mind when I'm thinking about just managing the the financial costs associated with the diagnosis is that obviously a person is going to be off work.

(09:02):
Um So they might be missing paychecks or maybe they don't have enough leave or whatever it may be.
Um What type of information or recommendations do you make for folks about their employer and short term disability or long term disability?
And that's a good question.
I actually had to deal with this yesterday.
Sometimes the patients will ask uh uh where,

(09:23):
where do I go to attempt to apply for short term or long term disability.
And that's actually through your employer,
if you're not familiar with,
with,
with that program,
check with your HR department,
you may be enrolled with so a short term disability and may not know it.
And if you're not,
it's something that they offer.
So you always want to check with your,

(09:44):
with your HR department and see what benefits they have to offer and what,
you know,
the enrollment period,
if they do have it,
when,
when are you eligible to apply for the short term slash long term uh disability?
So that's where you wanna go.
And I think that's a great reminder for all of our listeners is to be checking in with your hr department.

(10:04):
Be aware of the benefits they offer,
know what open enrollment is so that you're also preplan for the future summing in case something does happen and you might need those resources available programs,
cancer policies there.
Uh Sometimes your employer may offer policies for,
you know,
for the future,
you know,
you,
you just,
you just never know and they offer that they offer,

(10:26):
you know,
cancer policies where you can be reimbursed for,
you know,
uh expenses related to cancer treatment.
So the Financial Assistance program,
it,
it does have some exclusions.
It doesn't cover prescriptions,
oral prescriptions.
Let's say that uh pills from the pharmacy,
right?
It doesn't cover that and it doesn't cover dental,

(10:47):
it doesn't cover dental.
So and those,
those are a couple of questions that the patients also asked us about the financial.
So I want to put that out there as well,
but it does not cover prescriptions.
Excellent,
good information to keep in mind,
Charles.
So thank you so much for joining us today and uh sharing with our listeners.
Thank you for having me.
Appreciate it.
Have a great day.

(11:10):
Thank you for listening to cancer Conversations on talking facts.
Our goal is to connect you with the latest advances in cancer research in the commonwealth.
If you enjoyed today's podcast and have a suggestion for a future show topic,
please message us on the UK,
Marky Cancer Center,
Facebook page at facebook dot com forward slash UK Mary or visit our website at Mary dot UK Y dot E D U.

(11:34):
For more information,
you can find University of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences extension programs at your local extension office or online at F CS dot UK Y dot E D U building Strong Families building Kentucky.
It starts with us.