Billing & Insurance Questions

  • A co-pay is a fixed dollar amount set by your insurance plan on a specific medical service to be paid at the time the service is rendered. Co-pays typically do not apply to the out-of-pocket maximum (the collective amount which must be satisfied to access 100 percent coverage for the remainder of the year).

    We will ask for your co-pay when you check in with the receptionist for your visit. Hope and Healing Cancer Services is a specialist practice; for many insurance plans, a specialist’s co-payment fee is higher than regular office visits.

  • A deductible is an annual amount that must be paid out-of-pocket before your insurance will cover specific services. Typically, deductibles apply to the beginning of the calendar year and are due upon receipt of your statement.

  • Hope and Healing Cancer Services is a specialist practice and accepts several insurance plans. An updated list can be found below. If you do not see your specific insurance listed below, please contact your insurance provider to see if Hope and Healing Cancer Service physicians are considered “in network.”

    • Aetna (PPO, Commercial)

    • Blue Cross Blue Shield (PPO, HMO, Blue Choice)

    • BCBS Community (MMAI, ICP, FHP)

    • Cigna

    • County Care

    • Harmony/Wellcare (Medicaid, Medicare)

    • Humana (HMO, Medicare, Medicaid, MMAI)

    • Illinicare (ICP, FHP, MMAI, MLTSS, Ambetter)

    • Meridian (Commercial, Medicare, Medicaid)

    • Medicaid

    • Medicare

    • Molina (FHP, Medicare, Medicaid, MLTSS)

    • Nextlevel Health (Medicaid)

    • Tricare

    • UnitedHealthcare (PPO, Commercial, Medicare, Medicaid, Golden Rule)

  • Several secondary insurance plans do not cover the primary insurance’s annual deductible. This can also occur if the secondary insurance does not cover the particular service rendered. If you feel that your secondary insurance should have paid and has not, please contact your insurance company directly.

  • Yes, we accept payment with Visa®, MasterCard®, and American Express® credit cards. Please contact (630) 560-0121 for all billing-related inquiries.

  • It is important that the doctor you will be seeing is part of your insurance plan’s “HMO network.” Please refer to the list of providers within your network. If you do see a doctor out of your network, you may be billed more for the services. It is your responsibility to contact your primary care office for an insurance referral before seeking services at Hope and Healing Cancer Services. Your Primary Care Physician’s (PCP) office must manage your referrals.

Blood Disorder Questions

  • PT is the abbreviation for prothrombin time, the most common lab test to determine the clotting time of a patient’s blood. Results are reported as the number of seconds it takes for the blood to clot during the lab test.

  • INR stands for international normalized ratio, which is the accepted standard unit for reporting the prothrombin time results. The INR is a conversion unit that considers differences between various testing regimens to normalize the results. An INR is useful in monitoring the impact of blood-thinning medicines.

  • Yes, there are various factor deficiencies that lead to abnormal bleeding. These consist of deficiencies in factors I, II, V, VII, X, XI, XIII and von Willebrand factor. The most severe forms of these deficiencies are rarer than hemophilia A and B.

  • Bruises are highly common among children with hemophilia. A bruise is not normally the cause for alarm, unless

    • It is on the individual’s neck or head

    • The person has difficulty moving

    • The bruise hurts

    • The lump in the bruise grows larger

    • The bruise does not go away

    • There is a tingling feeling or numbness along with the bruising

    In any of these above cases, a medical doctor or local hemophilia treatment should be given.

Patient Care Questions

  • Getting a cancer diagnosis is life-altering, and we recognize the importance of getting an oncology appointment as soon as possible. Accommodating existing and new patients is a top priority for us, and we will schedule an appointment for you at your earliest convenience.

  • If you need to cancel an appointment, please call us at 630-560-0121.

  • Exercise has proven to be safe for people going through active cancer treatment and can be a great way to relieve some symptoms linked with your cancer or cancer treatment. Throughout the course of your treatment, we will pay close attention to your medical status to recommend an exercise program that is safe for you.

  • Yes, telling your doctor about the side effects is crucial to getting quality care. Untreated side effects can drain you emotionally and physically and detract from your healing. Your response to treatment and therapy is unique, and your doctors rely on patients telling them about their side effects.

  • Yes, many of our patients continue with their jobs and maintain a productive lifestyle throughout treatment. We are devoted to finding the most effective balance between aggressively treating cancer while working to minimally impact our patients’ daily routines, including work.

  • For a pain-causing tumor, eliminating or destroying all or part of the tumor with radiation or chemotherapy can help. Often, prescribed medicines will be the first step for pain control. Based on the level of pain, your doctor determines which drugs will be most effective in treating pain.

  • Some classes of cancer can be cured with chemotherapy. Other cancers can be placed in remission, which means they can be partially shrunken and prevented from growing for a certain period of time. When a tumor shrinks so much that it cannot be spotted by scans and examinations, it is called a “complete remission.” A complete remission does not necessarily mean a cure.

  • Loss of appetite is a typical side effect of chemotherapy and often is the result of your disease. Chemotherapy may also alter your taste buds – favorite foods may now become tasteless or even disliked. Make every effort to eat balanced meals on a regular basis even when you prefer not to eat or do not feel hungry.

  • Your physician will outline a treatment plan for you that is followed up with tests or scans (CT, PET, x-ray, MRI) as necessary and depending on your cancer diagnosis at various intervals during your therapy. This will vary from patient to patient.

  • Nausea or vomiting after chemotherapy has been greatly minimalized with the usage of anti-nausea drugs that have been established in the past several years for chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. Your physician selects the most appropriate anti-nausea medication based on the type of chemotherapy you receive. Not all chemotherapies cause nausea and vomiting. If you experience these symptoms, please call your doctor.

  • If your chemotherapy causes hair loss, it typically starts to come out within 2 weeks of the first treatment. While some chemotherapies do not cause hair loss, others cause thinning and some cause complete loss.

  • Fatigue and weakness are common side effects if you are on chemotherapy and sometimes are the result of your disease. Get plenty of rest and try to continue to eat balanced meals. Try to maintain normal activities as much as possible and allow yourself time to rest between activities.