Background: Cancer care is expensive. It’s common for a variety of legal and financial issues to accompany a cancer diagnosis. As questions arise about issues related to work, insurance coverage, accessing government benefits, and consumer rights, it’s important that individuals diagnosed with cancer and their families have access to the information they need to make educated decisions. Health care professionals are well-positioned to help navigate these issues and mitigate the financial impact of cancer, across the continuum of care. Stories of lost jobs, damaged credit, bankruptcy, medical debt, and huge amounts of stress, anxiety, and depression after a cancer diagnosis are common. By the time individuals seek help, they are in crisis. But with appropriate information and guidance, many of these crises are preventable.
However, there is a paucity in formal education related to these legal issues. Health care professionals indicate a gap in understanding and a lack of awareness of relevant resources. Thus, the Insurance & Finance Intensive (Intensive) was created to bridge that gap.
Intervention: The Intensive provides health care professionals with the knowledge to proactively identify cancer-related legal, health insurance, and financial issues. Topics covered in the intensive include: an overview of the US health care system; individual and employer-sponsored health insurance; Medicare; Medicaid; other government-sponsored health programs; employment rights; navigating disability insurance; and managing finances and getting financial help. Case studies and interactive group exercises are used to help health care professionals implement the learning.
As of July 2022, the Intensive has been provided 35 times nationwide since its inception in 2017. More than 1,900 health care professionals have participated in the eight-hour comprehensive training, equipping a substantial network of individuals with the tools for helping patients effectively navigate these cancer-related legal and financial issues and mitigate the potential financial toxicity of a cancer diagnosis.
Findings: In a recent attendee follow-up survey, 96% of survey respondents indicated that they changed their behavior or practice based on what they learned at the training. Six months after attending the Intensive, 80% of respondents displayed knowledge retention on topics related to patient insurance and medical bills. Additionally, 89% of respondents noted that they had shared the information they obtained with their patients, and 93% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the information provided by the training improved the quality of life of their patients and families.
Implications: When individuals understand how to obtain health insurance, take time off work, and manage financial stressors, their quality of life and survivorship outcomes improve. Health care professionals are instrumental in providing their patients with critical knowledge on cancer-related legal issues. Therefore, effectively training health care professionals to better navigate patients through these issues is a key component of empowering patients and their caregivers. It is recommended that more health care professionals participate in this training to improve the quality of life of their patients. Health care professionals who have completed the training may benefit from ongoing training to obtain up-to-date information about changes to the health care system and relevant laws.
.jpeg.jpg "Claire L. Agosti (she/her/hers) photo")
