Financial Options for Peace of Mind While Treating & Living with Cancer
Satellite Interview on Tampa Bay’s Morning Blend: Wednesday, October 16, 2019 7:00 am – 1:00 pm ET
See Interview Here
If you are diagnosed with cancer, which expert should you see first: a medical specialist or a money manager? Surprisingly, option two might give you the best hope of surviving the disease with both your health — and your wealth — intact.
Not only are cancer patients 2½ times as likely to declare bankruptcy as people without cancer, but those patients who go bankrupt are 80 percent more likely to die from the disease than other cancer patients.[1]
For some patients, getting the bills can be as bad as some of the side effects of the disease or the treatment. The problem is so significant that the National Cancer Institute (Cancer.gov) has a term for it: “financial toxicity.” Still, it could help to meet with a financial navigator about the health insurance plans and cost-saving methods for treatments that you are eligible for.
In interviews, Dr. Carolos Garcia, M.D., will discuss some of the costs of cancer treatment options, and Scott Page, CEO of Life Guide Partners, will talk about causes of financial toxicity and methods of finding money to cover the cost of treating and living with cancer.
Questions Covered:
- What are some of the more costly cancer treatments?
- What is financial toxicity and what contributes to it?
- Is bankruptcy a good choice for someone with a serious illness?
- What are some ways people with serious illness can reduce financial toxicity?
- Where can we go for more information?
About Scott Page
Scott Page, author of It’s Never Too Late: Getting Older, Wiser, and Worry Free in Our Golden Years, is an expert on retirement and financial issues facing seniors, Boomers and the Silent Generation. He has appeared on 20/20, NBC Nightly News and Fox, and been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. He wrote regularly for Huffington Post on money matters and now for Forbes. Page was instrumental in enlisting Betty White to serve as a spokesperson for the life insurance settlement industry to help raise awareness. He now focuses exclusively on helping seniors understand financial opportunities that may be available to them.
About Dr. Carlos M. Garcia M.D.
Carlos M. Garcia, M.D., is Director of Medicine at Utopia Wellness in the Tampa Bay area. His focus over the past several years has been on helping people suffering from cancer and its related diseases. Dr. Garcia is the author of Cancer is a Symptom: The Real Cause Revealed. He is a member of the American College for the Advancement of Medicine, the International College of Integrative Medicine, the American Holistic Health Association, and holds certifications in Chelation Therapy from the American Board of Chelation Therapy.
[1] According to studies from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle.