Addressing Financial and Social Needs Among Patients With Cancer

"Patients will receive two 1-hour, phone or video sessions with a remote financial counselor, each session will cover each of these 3 components of CostCOM.~Out-of-pocket cost communication (OOPC): A review of insurance benefits and education of the patient-specific OOPC for anticipated treatment regimen if any (i.e., medication). The OOPC is provided as a total estimate and will be updated at 3-month session in case of changes in treatment or insurance.~Financial navigation: Real-time professional guidance to identify financial assistance programs (e.g., co-pay, living expenses) that alleviate costs of care and discuss information to improve insurance coverage.~Financial counseling: To address the range of patients' financial concerns and enroll patients in financial assistance programs."

Patients will be provided with a comprehensive list of local resources (in patients' preferred language) in Orange County that can help with food insecurity, ir transportation, as well as contact information for national non-profit organization where patients can self-refer for financial navigation (e.g., Patient Advocate Foundation (PAF)

Patient will receive online and paper educational materials on topics such as health insurance and health insurance literacy, navigating hospitals' price estimator tool.

Patients in all arms will receive usual care, which includes routine oncology visits, use of available ancillary staff, and internal or external resources for co-pay assistance or free medication per normal clinic procedures.

Patients will be screened for financial hardship and health-related social risks.