Cancer Is Capsizing Americans' Finances. 'I Was Losing Everything.' - WSJ

[question everything]

(snip)

The economic burden of a cancer diagnosis is getting strikingly worse in the U.S., as drug and medical costs soar and more patients live longer with the disease. About 55% of cancer drugs introduced between 2019 and 2023 cost at least $200,000 a year, according to Iqvia’s Institute for Human Data Science. And an increasing number of patients are working-age, a group more likely to report financial hardship after diagnosis compared with older adults.

Nearly 60% of working-age cancer survivors report facing some financial difficulty. Many patients struggle to afford care and end up taking on debt, with some getting payday loans or running up credit cards. Cancer alone accounts for some 40% of medical campaigns seeking financial help on GoFundMe, research shows.

(snip)

Among common diseases, cancer creates a uniquely difficult financial strain known as financial toxicity. Treatments with expensive medicines start immediately and come with a string of nonmedical costs. Chemotherapy and other treatments can leave patients too weak to work for weeks or months. This can result in a twofold blow, with patients losing income and their employer-sponsored health insurance. The financial fallout can last for years.

(snip)

Many insurers have shifted rising healthcare costs to patients. Some employer-backed plans require patients to pay a percentage of a drug’s cost, which can add up to thousands of dollars. One report found a 15% increase in out-of-pocket costs for privately insured, working-age cancer patients from 2009 to 2016. Patients also foot the bill for transportation, lodging, child care and parking.

(snip)

More cancer centers are offering assistance for patients with financial problems, and nonprofits help patients pay for food, travel and other needs. But their funding is limited, and many people don’t know how to find these resources. Of patients who turn to GoFundMe to crowdsource financial help, only a small proportion reach their goals.

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[CanonRay]

1. We're helping out our 41 year old niece

She had a baby last year and now has breast cancer.

[question everything]

2. How hard this musst be. And lucky for her to get your support - financial and emotional

[area51]

3. If only this nation considered universal healthcare a national priority. n/t

[question everything]

4. And the bizarre pricing structure

From a part that I snipped

Common cancer drugs have list prices that go well into the six figures: Imbruvica, which treats leukemia, has a list price of more than $213,000 for a full year. The average Medicare patient taking it paid $5,247 out-of-pocket in 2022, federal data show.

[shrike3]

5. I have a Cadillac insurance plan. I had breast cancer fifteen years ago.

Unlike the poor woman at the beginning of this article, I have no lasting side effects. I'm extremely fortunate.