The Burden of Cancer

A cancer diagnosis inflicts a heavy burden – physically, emotionally and financially. The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer Part 2: Patient Economic Burden Associated With Cancer Care quantifies what patients, providers and caregivers already know: the economic burden that cancer places on a patient and their loved ones is stifling.

The report calculates the yearly economic burden of cancer care endured by patients nationwide to be $21.09 billion; patient out-of-pocket costs totaled $16.22 billion and patient time costs came to $4.87 billion. Patient time cost represents the value of the time that patients spend traveling to and from appointments and treatment sites, waiting for care and actually receiving care. When including the costs attributed to lost productivity among cancer patients and their family caregivers, the economic burden is even larger.

As the debate on health care pricing rages on and policy solutions are offered, P+P will continue to amplify calls to keep patients and providers at the center of medical decision making. Meaningful pricing policies must address out-of-pocket copays and cost sharing that disproportionately burdens patients with serious chronic conditions like cancer. They must also preserve maximum flexibility for providers to tailor individual treatment plans for patients. Policies focused primarily on cost control that slash payment rates for cancer care services or empower bureaucratic gatekeepers will result in less access to cancer screening, create longer wait times for patient treatment and limit therapeutic options. Patients win when they can access the medication, procedures and care recommended by their physician. Just as great thought and care go into crafting patient treatment plans, so must health care pricing policy be meticulously crafted in order to foster greater access to high quality, cost-efficient, patient-centered care.