Even with Medicare, out-of-pocket costs for people with liver cancer can be unaffordable. A recent study found that Medicare patients must spend $10,000 out of pocket for medical and hospital care in the first year of treatment. When will Congress focus on bringing down out-of-pocket health care costs?
About half of people with liver cancer are diagnosed after they go on Medicare. Still, the costs of liver cancer are substantial. Enormous debt and sometimes bankruptcy are likely consequences of liver cancer for people with Medicare. A study author explains that “Financial toxicity of cancer therapy can negatively impact patients, resulting in medical debt and even bankruptcy for some patients.”
What does Medicare cover? If you have liver cancer, Medicare pays for medical services, hospital care, prescription drugs, hospice care and sometimes also physical therapy, home health care and skilled nursing facility care. But, it does not cover the full cost of your care.
New treatment options, including new surgeries, radiation-based therapies, thermal ablation, which uses heat to kill the cancer, and immunotherapies, can be very effective. But, they all come with significant costs. And, costs have been increasing significantly since 2015, the most recent year studied.
The study compared costs for patients with cirrhosis with costs for patients with liver cancer. Costs for cirrhosis patients were much lower than the costs for patients with liver cancer. Patients with liver cancer need additional financial help.
This study did not look at prescription drug costs for liver cancer patients with Medicare. These drug costs only add to people’s financial burden.
More people are dying with liver cancer because it often is not detected until late stage. By 2040, liver cancer is predicted to be the third-leading cause of death from cancer.
In the US, cancer treatment is stunningly expensive. It is expected to rise to $250 billion in 2030.
Here’s more from Just Care:
- States plan to ensure access to top cancer care providers
- Cancer patients face particularly severe medical debt
- Biden administration should lower price of prostate cancer drug, Xtandi
- Coronavirus: Have you gotten your cancer screenings?
- Do new cancer treatments offer meaningful benefits?
