Financial Assistance and Insurance

The physicians and staff at Illinois Cancer Specialists understand that this is a difficult and stressful time for you and your family.   Because we want you to be able to concentrate on what is most important –fighting your disease – our staff includes a Patient Financial Counselor, who has been trained to answer your questions concerning insurance coverage.  

We will not allow your insurance status to dictate your care or access to us, we will utilize and leverage all available resources both within our national network and locally to assist you. Our Patient Financial Counselors will closely assist and support these efforts.  Once you make an appointment, all facets of our services–from the latest research findings to the most advanced technology–will be made available for your healing. 

Here are a few answers to frequently asked questions about insurance.   

What can the patient financial counselor do to help me?   Our Patient Financial Counselor is here to ease your financial burden.  They will verify your insurance benefits, and meet with you to review the information obtained from your insurance carrier.  With the help of US Oncology, the advocate has access to foundation applications, grants, and help with your out-of-pocket expenses. 

Do you take my insurance?  Most likely, we do.  Illinois Cancer Specialists’ physicians are participating providers in most health insurance plans including Medicare. Once you have an appointment, we pre-certify your services with your insurance company to ascertain your costs prior to treatment.    This pre-certification includes verifying whether your plan will cover diagnostic radiology and laboratory services performed at our facilities. 

Do you file my insurance claim?  On your behalf, we do file insurance claims to your primary (and secondary) insurance company. 

Do I need a referral?  Your insurance plan may require that you obtain a referral in order to see a physician and or participate in diagnostic testing.   Your referral would come from your primary care physician, (internal medicine, family practitioners, etc.)  Please verify the specific requirements of your plan with your insurance carrier.  Patients are responsible for ensuring that they have a valid referral for each visit, but we often work with offices with these matters.

How a financial counselor can help

Should you begin chemotherapy or radiation treatment, the financial counselor will help verify your insurance benefits and meet with you to review information obtained from your insurance carrier.   An estimate of your financial liability, if any, will be discussed with you at this time.

Questions?

The staff at our Central Business Office can answer any billing questions.   Representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM. Please call (847) 585-7000 to speak to a representative, and we ask that you have your patient account number and physician name readily available.

Patient Assistance Support

We hope that everyone will utilize the services of our Patient Financial Counselor.  But if for any reason you are not comfortable doing so, please consider getting assistance directly from Patient Assistance Support, a service of US Oncology.   This is the same service that your financial counselor can do for you if you provide essential financial information to them.