Why Cancer

Why Cancer?

Every year, nearly 30,000 new cases of cancer are diagnosed, and 9,100 Minnesotans die from cancer. There are over 263,330 cancer survivors living in the state.

The financial toll cancer takes on these families is daunting, and has its own term—

Financial Toxicity

Financial toxicity is defined as "the detrimental effects of the excess financial strain caused by the diagnosis of cancer on the well-being of patients, their families, and society."

Cancer’s financial toxicity remains the driving force behind our clients’ need for legal care—

• They don’t have the financial ability to pay for a lawyer’s help, especially in estate planning at end-of-life,

• The financial spiral they're facing as a result of their cancer is something a lawyer can help with by preserving employment or securing disability benefits, and;

• Sometimes legal care makes medical care possible by overturning insurance denials.

In light of the following statistics, it's easy to understand how many Minnesotans are unable to afford to pay for a lawyer for the legal issues that arise because of their diagnosis, and that threaten their well-being and peace of mind—

• 42% of new cancer patients deplete their life savings within two years of diagnosis

• Cancer patients, on average, are about 2.5 times more likely to declare bankruptcy than those without cancer

• 33% of women diagnosed with breast cancer who are working at the time they were diagnosed are no longer working four years later

• 62% of personal bankruptcies filed are due in part to significant medical debt; of these, 78% had health insurance

• After a cancer diagnosis, the probability of a patient being employed drops by almost 10%

• 14% of Minnesotans are insured by high deductible insurance plans—nearly twice the national average.   

The health impact of financial toxicity is real—

• Cancer survivors who file for bankruptcy are 80% more likely to die than cancer patients who do not

• 79% of oncology care providers are concerned with their cancer patients refusing treatment because of financial worries, and 49% have had a cancer patient refuse treatment because of financial concerns

• From 2003-2006, more than two million cancer survivors in the United States did not get one or more needed medical services because of financial concerns

Behind each one of these numbers is a person or family in crisis, and that's where Cancer Legal Care can help.