For instance, if you feel your insurance company has treated you unfairly, you may want to advocate for a review of its decision. There are companies that help cancer patients with problems of medical billing, insurance coverage, and reimbursement issues. Also, there are sources for financial assistance, and ways to get help collecting entitlements from Medicaid and Medicare. There are organizations that provide lodging for families of a patient undergoing treatment, especially if it is a child who is ill and the parents are required to accompany him or her to treatment. Often, the services that people with cancer are looking for are right in their own neighborhood, or city.
Most hospitals also have a social work, homecare, or discharge planning department.
Any of these should be able to help you find a support group, a nonprofit agency that helps people who have cancer, or the proper government agency for Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid. While you are undergoing treatment, be sure to ask the hospital about transportation, practical assistance, or even temporary child care. Talk to a hospital financial counselor in the business office about developing a monthly payment plan if you need help with hospital expenses. A librarian can help you find books and magazine articles on a relevant subject through a literature search. The local church, synagogue, YMCA or YWCA, or fraternal order may have volunteers who can help with things such as transportation and homecare or may provide financial assistance.