The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) released a report detailing the costs of treating cancer, specifically out-of-pocket costs typical cancer patients face.
The Costs of Cancer
This ACS CAN report focuses specifically on the costs of cancer for patients in active cancer treatment as well as survivors. It examines the factors contributing to the cost of cancer care, the types of direct costs patients face, and other costs and hardships associated with cancer. To more fully illustrate what people with cancer actually pay for care, the report presents profiles of several typical cancer patients and shows what they paid when they had different types of insurance coverage.
The report presents public policy recommendations for making cancer treatments more affordable for patients, survivors and the health care system as a whole. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is making cancer – and the affordability of cancer care – a top priority for public officials and candidates at the federal, state and local levels.
In 2018 cancer patients in the U.S. paid $5.6 billion out-of-pocket for cancer treatments, including surgical procedures, radiation treatments and chemotherapy drugs.
The Costs of Cancer 2020 report includes many graphics that illustrate the costs cancer patients face and why policymakers must find solutions.
The patient profiles and associated data in the report represent the typical costs for several cancer scenarios. The types, stages, and details of cancer represented in these profiles were chosen based on cancer incidence rates and the need to represent a diverse set of people with cancer patients and experiences.