Hello there,
First let me say I'm sorry sorry to hear about your situation. I recently learned the same about my father with stage IV small cell lung cancer with metastatic cancer in his liver and lumbar back.
While everyone's burden is different when it comes to cost due to different insurance policies and cancer related complications the final cost is an unknown?
It is a terrible thing to have to ask about cost, I mean realistically do we really care how much it costs to treat a loved one or a friend's condition?
The answer should be NO, there is no cost to great to ensure proper care and prognosis of any cancer or health issue.
I have already seen my father turn down 1 medication that would benefit him based on cost after insurance of $1200.00 dollars per rx..
I can only give this advice, ask a lot of questions about your friend's medical condition\treatment, scrutinize everything and understand the pros, cons, and the cost equation.
I cannot give you an exact amount, but as a friend you can be supportive, understanding all medical options to treat your friend and to weigh the pros, cons and cost of the treatment's.
The best you can do is do the leg work for your friend, research the specific cancer, understand treatment options, know the related costs, and the benefits vs the adverse effects of the treatment. Also there are a lot of clinical trials available, know and understand the options of those clinical trials available for your friends cancer.TThe other thing that is helpful related to cost is find a cancer center if you can in your county.A lot of them have internal services such as cray, labs,chemo, radiation therapy etc. The less that has to be a third party the easier it is to navigate gate cost, deal with insurance claims etc. A lot of times internal services can be reduced in cost because all services are at 1 place.
I will put you in my prayers, God bless you and your friend and his\her family.
HIPAA makes knowledge of direct cost as it relates to a direct procedure tricky to know far in advance. That is why I always get cost of treatment in writing in advance of anyone treatment or procedure. Doctor will always ask for a signed consent so do not be afraid to ask for cost in writing which represents a written contract between the patient and doctor. I haveused this cost contract to my benefit to reduce the price by getting cost from another doctor. Remember in the end, Medical inthe U.S. is a profitable business, so treat it as such.
Shop it just like you do for a home or car. Many times doing this I have discovered other medical options or methods of treatment for health conditions, which are protected under HIPAA.
Clinical trials are available through Cancer Treatment Centers Of America and many other medical facilities. Any directly related to universities will have cutting edge methodology for treatments.