A second opinion usually isn’t covered, and insured cancer patients still pay thousands out of pocket

Usually not. Cleveland Clinic’s international virtual second opinion is USD 4,500, and the clinic states insurance does not typically cover it. Dana-Farber’s online second opinion through AccessHope is USD 3,000. Some employer benefit plans cover a second opinion service for free, so check your plan before assuming you must pay (hospital price pages, 2026).

Privately insured patients under 65 paid more than USD 6,000 out of pocket in the 6 months after a breast, lung or colorectal cancer diagnosis, and about USD 4,500 after a prostate cancer diagnosis, in a study using 2016 data published by the American Cancer Society (2022). Out-of-pocket costs had risen more than 15% since 2009.

Cancer treatment given in hospital is paid by the provincial plan. The gap is medicine taken at home: in Ontario, take-home cancer drugs do not universally fall under the Ontario Drug Benefit program, while people in the western provinces and northern territories have their cancer drugs paid for by the province regardless of route (Canadian Cancer Society, 2022). Check what your province covers and whether a workplace plan fills the gap.

Usually not for some time. Under moratorium underwriting, a condition you had in the 5 years before the policy started is excluded until you have gone 2 continuous years without symptoms, treatment or advice for it (Aviva policy terms). A cancer diagnosed before you joined a new policy is therefore usually not covered for a period, if at all.

We don’t quote a fee upfront. We first check that a partner hospital can take your type of case, then tell you the hospital, the fee and the expected time before anything is sent. Assume you will pay the fee yourself; this service is not typically something insurers reimburse, in line with how US providers describe their own second-opinion pricing.