The New York Times section “Living with Cancer” recently published an article titled “The Financial Toxicity of Illness”. The following is a summary and some take-a-ways from this piece.
The Financial Toxicity of Illness
It is a strange paradox many have to deal with when it comes to the cost of cancer care… What aims to save us can destroy us. While medicine transforms cancer into a chronic disease with which patients can live for an extended period of time, financial toxicity threatens to turn chronic, too.
What is Financial Toxicity… the burdens of insured, underinsured and uninsured people impaired or destroyed by the high costs of care.
• The costs of oncology drugs are staggering.
• Adult patients are 2.65 times more likely to file for bankruptcy than patients of a similar age without cancer.
• Young adults with cancer have two to five times higher rates of bankruptcy than seniors.
• Parents of kids with cancer experience work disruptions and 15 percent quit their jobs or are laid off.
• Out-of-pocket outlays for pricey drugs and procedures can skyrocket when people have high cost-sharing plans.
• Patients are skipping appointments, procedures, and scans. Are they “noncompliant”? No, they simply don’t have the cash for the medicine prescribed.
Our work at Carexst is dedicated to helping cancer patients obtain financial assistance to cover their personal financial responsibility brought on by this dreaded disease. Please visit our website to find out how we can help your organization. http://carexst.com