3g. Specialty Insurance: Cancer Policies
A cancer policy is speciality insurance that supplements primary health insurance coverage. Depending on the policy, the benefits can be used for both out-of-pocket medical expenses or non-medical expenses such as gas and hotel rooms to travel for treatment.
Once a patient has been given a cancer diagnosis including the type and/or stage, a call should be made to the insurer to initiate the policy. Most often, the company will send a packet and ask for the following information:
Provider statement or note
Positive pathology report
Treatment plan
Any testing with supporting documentation
Billing documents with ICD 9 or ICD codes
At Essentia Health, the oncology social work or nurse navigator are available to help fill out the cancer care policy packet with the required information. After the packet is sent back to the insurer, the patient should follow up on the approval status and also ask that the policy is kept open until treatment is completed, or a cancer-free diagnosis is given. For lifelong-cancer or progress diseases, the patient should check with the insurer to learn about the policy maximum and how long they are able to submit claims. Some policies also allow renewal for cancer recurrence.