Affording the Costs of Mesothelioma: A Family Guide

Understanding your options for financial support and services available for mesothelioma treatment.

There are few medical diagnoses that are quite as difficult to take as mesothelioma. While it is not the most common form of cancer, this disease is particularly brutal – it is usually caught rather late in its progression and many patients don’t have long to live after they learn of their condition. To say the least, the emotional toll on the individual and their family is extreme, and this is sure to be one of the most difficult times they’ve experienced. 

Money may be the last thing you want to think about; but it may be a concern.

At a time like this, it might seem trivial to consider the financial side of what this diagnosis will mean for the family. However, it is still important to think of financial implications, as treatment and care can be quite expensive and there are monetary considerations to be made that are unique to mesothelioma. During a time when so much can feel like it is out of your control, taking the reins on finances and making some smart decisions about how to move forward can at least offer some measure of comfort during what will still be a challenging situation. 

The Many Financial Implications of Mesothelioma 

It’s a reality of the healthcare system that receiving a serious diagnosis like mesotelioma is going to come along with some very significant costs. Those costs can be related directly to the care and treatment that are required as a result of the illness, and they can also stem from secondary issues that arise along with the diagnosis. Below, we’ll look closer at some of the many financial implications of having yourself or a lsoved one be diagnosed with mesothelioma. 

·       Medical treatments. 

This is where it all starts with the costs of mesothelioma. If you need to be treated for this disease, those treatments are going to be costly, and the bills can add up significantly even if you have insurance in place. Not only that, but the costs are going up all the time. The totals that you will be facing between hospital bills, clinics, medications, and more can truly be stunning – and are beyond the resources of most families to handle on their own. 

Unfortunately, the weight of these costs will only add to the stress of the situation, which is already immense. And, the ability to pay for care is one of the best predictors for prognosis, so this is a point that can’t be overlooked.

·       Travel costs. 

You might not be able to get care for yourself or a loved one at a facility that is local to where you live. This will depend, of course, on where you live and what kinds of medical facilities are offered in the area. If you do need to travel for care, there are plenty of costs associated with those trips that will need to be addressed. That can include the transportation itself, hotel bills for family members, food and other expenses, and more. When you add the travel costs on top of the treatment costs, it will quickly become hard to see how those bills will ever be paid.

·       Missing work. 

It’s entirely possible that the individual affected by mesotelioma is currently working a job and helping to contribute to their family’s financial picture. Suddenly, they will be unable to work due to their illness, and that can have a major impact on the budget. Even if the affected individual wasn’t earning a salary at the time of diagnosis, they might have been contributing in another way that will now be more difficult, such as by offering child care while others worked. 

The exact expenses incurred in each case will depend on a variety of factors, but it’s safe to say that they will be significant and ongoing. It’s going to be necessary to confront the reality of this situation and develop a plan to come out on the other side with hope for a brighter future and more positive outcome. 

Options for Financial Support 

There are limited moments of positive news when going through the experience of mesothelioma, so anything you can find that is a bright spot should be celebrated and pursued. In this case, that means searching for options for financial support or other forms of help that can lessen the burden placed on all who are involved. Finding some programs that can help might not entirely take away financial concerns, but they certainly can help and will hopefully allow an individual to have less of an uphill battle. 

Charitable Resources for Medical Treatment Include Mesothelioma

What do these options look like? For one thing, there are programs available that offer free flights for patients who need to get to a different location for medical treatments. Corporate Angel Network and Angel Flight, Inc. are two such organizations that may be able to assist. Once a patient and their family have made it to an area where they need to stay, Airbnb offers a program that makes some free short-term housing available. 

In addition to these options through businesses and non-profit organizations, there are also government programs that might be available to assist. For someone who is no longer able to work, applying for disability could be a good way to offset at least some of what has been lost as a result of missed wages. Also, veterans can apply through the VA to get disability assistance, so that’s an option that should certainly be explored for those who are eligible. 

What Causes Mesothelioma? 

There isn’t always an obvious cause for certain types of cancer. Some cancers just start to grow without any known reason or risk factor – although advances in research and science are gaining a clearer understanding of what this entails all the time. 

In other cases, the cause and effect factors are relatively obvious and well-known. Smoking, for example, is closely linked to lung cancer. Not all cases of lung cancer impact those who smoked or were exposed to smoke, but many cases are related to that underlying cause. With mesothelioma, the connection to the cause may be even more powerful. 

This type of cancer is directly linked to exposure to asbestos, and the vast majority of mesothelioma cases stem from direct exposure, meaning when someone is diagnosed with this disease, it is typically easy to draw a connection to a previous time when asbestos was present in their life. Other cases of mesothelioma stem from secondhand, or indirect, exposure. 

Where exactly is mesothelioma?

The mesothelium is the protective lining around the lungs, heart, and abdominal organs. When an individual is exposed to asbestos, the tiny fibers can be inhaled and will lodge themselves in that protective lining. The person won’t even notice that this is happening, and there are unlikely to be any side effects or health consequences for a long time. Eventually, however, those durable little fibers can cause inflammation and lead to damage in the cells, and mesothelioma can be the end result. 

As mentioned above, most commonly, the individual impacted by mesothelioma will have been directly exposed to asbestos at some point in the past. For example, they may have worked in an industrial setting where asbestos was used before the regulations began to become stricter to protect workers. In that situation, the individual that was exposed may have inhaled a significant amount of asbestos fibers over the months or years of their employment, and that exposure can lead to serious health problems decades later. 

But, again, it’s not only direct exposure that poses a risk. Much like with smoking, secondhand exposure to mesothelioma is also dangerous. So, continuing the example from above, someone who lived in a home with the worker who was directly exposed to asbestos may also be at risk. That worker could have brought home asbestos fibers on their clothes and other items, only to release them into the air inside, where they could be inhaled by a spouse or children. 

It’s important for individuals to follow up on their health if there is a chance that they could have been a victim of secondhand asbestos exposure so they can look for signs of asbestos-related disease and begin treatment as soon as possible. 

What are Asbestos Trusts? (Compensation without a lawsuit.)

It’s easy to draw a direct line from mesothelioma to the asbestos exposure that likely caused the disease. And, in most cases, that exposure was the fault of a company that failed to warn employees about the risks that were present in their facility. Many of those companies knew of the risks that come along with asbestos, and knew it was harmful to human health, yet continued its use because of how beneficial asbestos was to their profits. 

Fortunately, courts ordered that asbestos companies help compensate all their victims.

In the years that have passed since stricter regulations were put into place, many of these companies have lost large lawsuits alleging negligence. Because the volume of lawsuits was so great, fideicomisos de asbesto have since been established for victims to file claims and seek a portion of the trust as damages for what they or their family has experienced. Filing a claim with a trust is appealing because it can offer a streamlined, simplified path toward receiving compensation as opposed to going through a time-consuming, complicated, and often stressful lawsuit. 

With an asbestos trust, the money is already in place and waiting to be dispersed to those who qualify. 

It’s also possible that a victim will qualify to file a claim with more than one trust, which is why it’s so important to work with an experienced lawyer to understand all of your options and make sure no money is left on the table. It’s true that you may be able to secure a larger settlement through a lawsuit, but the time and effort required to go through that process might not make it worth it in the end. The best approach is to work directly with an attorney to go over your needs and decide on a logical path forward. 

No upfront fees, no retainer, no risk.

It’s important to clear up one point that confuses some people when thinking about hiring a lawyer to handle a mesothelioma case. Some families are concerned about the cost of such representation, but your lawyer will be working on a contingency basis in this case. Simply put, that means the lawyer only gets paid if you get paid, so there is no risk of racking up big out-of-pocket bills without any payout on your end. The attorney you choose to work with will be paid out of the settlement or judgment that you receive – and, if no such money is secured, you won’t owe the lawyer anything for their time. 

El momento de actuar es ahora

Unfortunately, there is no time to waste in a mesothelioma case. Receiving this diagnosis typically means that the disease is quite advanced and the individual facing this cancer may not have a lot of time left. Getting started dealing with the financial end of things is one of the best steps you can take to help all involved. 

It’s possible that this will include moving forward with a claim or lawsuit against a company that was responsible for the asbestos exposure that led to this diagnosis. Working with an experienced attorney who specializes in asbestos cases is a great way to sort through options and determine how best to proceed. Don’t assume that the process of seeking damages in this case is going to be too difficult or time-consuming to be worth the effort. Not only is it the right thing to do to stand up to the guilty party in this case and fight for compensation, but that compensation could make a huge difference in managing treatment options moving forward. 

The time to pursue compensation is today. Many previous victims have successfully received payouts for their injuries, and you could be next.