Cancer treatment costs more than most people expect.
Cancer survival rates have climbed over the past decade, helped by better treatments and earlier detection. A diagnosis today carries more reason for hope than it did twenty years ago.
The bills did not get smaller.
Health insurance covers a great deal and leaves a great deal uncovered. Roughly one in five people who contact Windsor is looking for money to cover cancer treatment, and most of them already have coverage. The gap is not between insured and uninsured. It is between what a plan pays and what the treatment actually costs.
Most Americans hold a life insurance policy, and most treat it as something that only pays out later. It can be sold now, often for several times its cash surrender value. Only about 4 in 10 financial advisors are familiar with that market, so the fact that a policy is sellable rarely comes up before a diagnosis forces the question.
Surprise bills arrive even with good coverage.
Someone can know a plan inside out and still get blindsided. 24% of cancer patients and survivors report at least one surprise medical bill, usually after being treated by an out-of-network provider they never chose.
A 2019 survey found 63% of cancer patients hit financial trouble after diagnosis. Monthly treatment costs regularly run past monthly income:
- Chemotherapy: $1,000 to $12,000 a month
- Radiation: around $9,000 a month
- Immunotherapy: $10,000 to $12,500 a month
Those are the treatment costs alone. Premiums, deductibles, co-pays, co-insurance, out-of-pocket maximums, and out-of-network care all sit on top.
When cost picks the treatment plan.
Plenty of patients choose a treatment because it is the one their plan covers, not because it is the one they or their oncologist would pick first. Sometimes the preferred option is a clinical trial in another state, and the barrier is travel and lodging rather than the treatment itself. Sometimes it is a second opinion at a cancer center that is out of network.
Immunotherapy is a common example. It works better against some cancers than others and is often given alongside other treatments. A full course can approach $100,000, and coverage varies by plan and by diagnosis.
Complementary and alternative approaches are another. Some insurers cover a few services at a discounted rate, most cover none of it, and the clinical evidence behind these treatments varies widely. Anything outside standard care belongs in a conversation with the treating oncologist before any money is spent on it.
Cash from a policy sale does not make a treatment work. It removes cost as the reason a treatment is off the table.
Life settlement or viatical settlement?
Both mean selling a life insurance policy to a buyer for a lump sum. The buyer becomes the owner and beneficiary, takes over the premiums, and collects the death benefit later. The money is cash with no restriction on how it is used.
The two differ by the health of the insured.
A life settlement generally applies to an insured aged 75 or older who is not seriously ill. A viatical settlement applies where the insured is terminally or chronically ill, at any age. Offers run higher on the viatical side, because a buyer is pricing a shorter holding period.
Most people paying for cancer treatment are looking at the viatical side, not the life settlement side. Proceeds are usually tax free under federal law when a physician has certified the insured as terminally ill.
Check the policy’s own riders first.
Many policies already include an accelerated death benefit rider that pays out part of the death benefit early after a qualifying diagnosis. The carrier pays it, the policy stays in force, and the death benefit shrinks by whatever was drawn.
That number should be in hand before any offer is compared. A rider that pays less than the market is still worth putting on the table, because it leaves coverage behind for a family.
What qualifies a policy.
- Face amount of at least $100,000
- A serious health impairment at any age, or an insured aged 75 or older
- Policy in force for at least two years
Term, universal, whole, and convertible term policies can all qualify. A policy with a loan against it can still qualify. More detail sits on the eligibility page.
Where to start.
The viatical settlement calculator gives a rough range in a few minutes without medical records or personal details.
After that, the difference between a broker and a buyer decides most of the outcome. Windsor is a broker and represents the policyowner as a fiduciary. The providers bidding on a policy owe the seller no such duty, and each one represents its own capital. Windsor takes a policy to multiple buyers and reports every offer received.
A life settlement is not the right answer for everyone. Anyone whose family still depends on the death benefit is usually better off keeping the policy.
