The cost of breast cancer treatment will vary by the stage of the breast cancer, and what type of treatment you have. You could have a combination of chemotherapy, radiation and surgery. The cost would also depend on if you have insurance, and what kind of insurance that you have. You could have as many as 20 or more expenses a month related to breast cancer. You may have to go to the doctor’s office frequently; you may have to go to a cancer clinic or hospital for chemo as an outpatient. Radiation may be as often as 5 days a week, over a period of time, for some people. Daily medications can amount to more than $50,000 over the duration of the treatment.

Assuming that you have health insurance, you might pay more than $600 a month for insurance coverage, and then you may have a $500 deductible on that insurance. You could have more than $1500 a month of out-of-pocket expenses. You may have co-pays for doctor’s visits, radiation treatments, and chemo treatments could mount up to more than $400 a month. If you want to count the distance traveled to get to all your examinations and treatments that could amount up to more than $100 a month for gasoline. Sometimes, you may have to eat out while you are waiting for your appointment for your treatment; this might cost nearly $100 a month.

If you worked before having breast cancer, you may have had to cut down or stop working entirely due to your body’s reaction to chemo and/or radiation treatments. The loss in income could be counted as money spent on cancer treatment. The hardship caused from not being able to work causes financial burdens, and it also causes depression, which can hinder you from getting better. If you don’t have peace of mind, you may be worrying about the cost of all your medications, and the cost of treatments to come. You may also be worrying about whether the money spent for breast cancer treatment is even worth it, especially if, due to the treatments, you feel sick every single day.

Due to the economy, many people don’t have any health insurance at all. There is no way that the average out-of-work person could afford to pay for cancer treatments. A big portion of women without health insurance will not get breast cancer screening. A woman without health coverage may not see a doctor in several years. She may not do breast self-exams, and she may not have had a clinical breast exam in several years. Women without health insurance are more likely to have advanced stages of breast cancer before ever seeing a doctor.

Some cycles of chemotherapy cost as much as $2500 for one round of chemo. If you have health insurance, you would still have to pay something, but if you don’t have health insurance you don’t get the treatment, unless you have some sort of help. If you don’t have health insurance, and you need cancer screening, you can contact the information service for the National Cancer Institute. The number is (800)-4-CANCER. This organization can tell you how to get free mammograms. If you don’t have insurance, try calling the Social Services Department in your community. You may qualify for Medicaid or some other program for women of low income. There may also be some local health care programs available in your community that are free or low cost, you can ask your Public Health Department, about any free programs. There are vans that come around to communities to offer low cost mammograms. If you listen to your local news, it might be mentioned at least once a day where the van will be near your community.

The bottom line is that breast cancer is a very expensive disease to have. Money should not stand in your way of getting the appropriate health care and cancer treatment that you need. If you have insurance, but you still cannot afford to pay for the out-of-pocket expenses, contact your local Social Services Department in your community to see if you can get some financial aid. If you don’t have any insurance at all there are organizations, such as the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation may be able to help you.

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