Legal Rights of Cancer Patients

If you are diagnosed with cancer, you will have many conversations with family members and doctors about your choices. But there are more things to consider than just your choices in treatment. You have legal rights, too, and those need to be taken into account.

Cancer Patients Bills of Rights

• There are many lists of "rights" for cancer patients. You can find these on the Internet or through any cancer patient advocacy group. Be aware, though that these lists are only lists of ideals--what the group thinks all patients should have. They are not legally binding for patients, doctors, hospitals or insurance companies.

Insurance Companies

• You have the right to receive the coverage you have been paying for. If your insurer declines to pay the costs of your treatment, appeal immediately, with copies of your policy in hand. If your appeal is unsuccessful, threaten to involve lawyers. Hiring a lawyer would cost less than paying for your cancer treatment out of pocket.

Doctors

• Doctors are required by oath and by law to make their patients' well-being their highest priority. Yet this often means different things to patients and to doctors. As a patient, you have the right to be treated like a human being, rather than a disease, but your doctor may forget this sometimes. You can help with this conflict by keeping the lines of communication open, asking your doctor to sit down when he or she speaks with you and insisting on seeing all of your medical charts and other information.

Hospitals

• The American Hospital Association has put out a set of guidelines called "The Patient Care Partnership." These guidelines are binding on all hospitals that are members and indicate how they are required to treat cancer patients. These guidelines include high-quality care, a clean and safe environment, involvement in your care, protection of your privacy, help filing out your insurance claims and preparation for you and your family when you leave the hospital.

At Work

• The Americans with Disabilities Act and the Family Medical Leave Act make it a crime for employers to fire you just because you have cancer or your cancer treatments cause you to miss work. If your employer fires you, cuts back your pay, reduces your hours or somehow makes your working life difficult, you can contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to file a complaint, and they may enforce the law with your employer.