Cancer insurance
Benefits that help ease the financial burden while you heal
When you’re bearing the physical and emotional toll of a cancer diagnosis, the last thing you need to think about is the cost of cancer treatment. Medical insurance will help you pay for treatment, but recovering from cancer brings many unexpected expenses — and can have a significant financial impact on you and your family. Cancer insurance doesn’t replace traditional medical insurance — it’s supplemental coverage that helps with out-of-pocket costs, with direct benefit payments based on diagnosis and related treatments. That added financial support can help you focus your energy on beating the illness.
For employees
Read on to see how it works or ask your benefits department about cancer insurance options at work.
For employers
Offer cancer insurance coverage to employees as a way to complement their medical insurance.
More and more people are surviving cancer, but the unexpected costs can set back family finances. In some cases, they may even keep people from completing their cancer treatment. Is it worth signing up for this coverage? If you have a high-deductible health plan, a cancer diagnosis could mean thousands in out-of-pocket costs. Cancer insurance benefits can help pay for that. Also, anyone with a family history of cancer — and looking for added financial protection — should think about getting coverage.1
Here’s an example of how it works
Mary had a cancer screening test and was diagnosed with breast cancer, which was highly treatable, in part because it was detected early on. She filed an initial claim with her group cancer insurance plan by contacting the insurance company and providing some simple paperwork from her medical provider. Soon after, the insurance company deposited a benefit payment directly into her bank account.
Over the next few months, her cancer was treated with surgery and medications. She sent the medical billing statements to her insurance company, and they provided more cancer insurance benefit payments based on specific treatments, medications, and follow-up screenings. The benefit helped ease her financial worries so she could focus on her journey back to wellness.
As a workplace benefit
Cancer insurance is often purchased at work as a "voluntary" (employee-paid) benefit to supplement group medical coverage, so ask your employer or HR department if this benefit is available as part of your benefits package. When you purchase coverage at work, you'll typically benefit from a simpler enrollment process, easy payroll deductions, and group rates that are not available to individual purchasers.
As an individual
If you do not have access to an employer-sponsored plan, there are insurance companies that offer individual cancer insurance policies. But before purchasing, make sure you understand the complete details of what's covered and how much the plan will pay for different diagnoses, tests, and treatments.
Critical illness insurance
Critical illness insurance provides a benefit payout if you experience a serious illness, such as cancer, stroke, heart attack, Parkinson's disease, and more. Because cancer insurance pays benefits beyond just the initial diagnosis, stand-alone cancer plans often times pay more than a critical illness policy.
Hospital indemnity insurance
Hospital indemnity insurance can help pay for out-of-pocket costs you incur as a result of a hospital stay for any reason, not just cancer. Fixed benefit amounts are paid directly to you based on admission and days hospitalized, and you can use the money you get to help cover any costs. If you also have cancer insurance, you can typically collect benefits from both policies for a cancer-related hospital stay.
Accident insurance
Accident insurance provides benefits if you suffer a covered accidental injury, such as a severe burn or broken bone, or have to visit an emergency room. It may also cover the diagnostic testing needed to determine if your bone is broken, like an X-ray. The lump-sum payment goes directly to you, not the hospital or medical provider.
Alternatives to supplemental cancer insurance
While not a true alternative, critical illness and hospital indemnity insurance (above) are often in conjunction with cancer insurance because they may pay benefits for many — but not all — situations covered by cancer insurance.
There are also other types of coverage you may want to consider. For example, certain life insurance riders, such as an Accelerated Benefit Rider, can pay a portion of the death benefit to help pay medical costs for certain chronic illnesses like cancer.3 On the other hand, if you’re concerned about losing income due to extended cancer-related or other illness — and want ongoing payments — you should look into disability insurance, and in particular, long-term disability insurance.
Cancer Screening, Initial Diagnosis Benefit are optional plan choices determined by your employer.
Guardian’s Group Cancer Insurance is underwritten and issued by The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, New York, NY. Products are not available in all states.
1 Survivor Views: Cancer & Medical Debt February 2022 Survey Findings Summary - https://www.fightcancer.org/sites/default/files/national_documents/survivor_views_cancer_debt_0.pdf
2 All scenarios and names mentioned herein are purely fictional and have been created solely for educational purposes. Any resemblance to existing situations, persons or fictional characters is coincidental. "
3 Riders may incur an additional cost. Riders may not be available in all states.