Cancer Treatment & Prescription Costs Come at a Hefty Price

Cancer Treatment and Prescription Costs Come at a Hefty Price

Posted on Oct 27, 2011 in Prescription Cost by PayingThePrice-Contributor 1 Comment

Cancer victims and their families are finding new hope through the innovative advances, high cost prescription medications, surgical techniques and other medical innovations – but at a high price.

How Prescription Costs Are Having A Devastating Effect On The Wallets Of Cancer Patients

While new drugs, surgical techniques and other innovations have improved outcomes for people battling cancer, these advances have also come with substantial prices increases in recent years, even for people with health insurance and plans to help them with prescription costs.

ahrq Cancer Treatment and Prescription Costs Come at a Hefty Price

The AHRQ is the lead U.S. agency charged with improving the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare for all Americans.

A recent study conducted by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) found that between 2001 and 2008, 13.4 percent of adults younger than 65 who had cancer spent more than 20 percent of their income on healthcare, including premiums. That compared with 9.7 percent of people with other chronic conditions and only 4.4 percent of those with no chronic conditions. The AHRQ is the lead U.S. agency charged with improving the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare for all Americans.

Further research from Duke University Medical Center and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute determined that the out-of-pocket prescription costs for cancer patients averaged $712 per month.

Apart from insurance premiums, the largest portion of that expense went to prescription costs, which averaged $174. The National Institute of Health estimated that in 2010, the overall, direct medical costs of cancer in the United States were $102.8 billion.

These high treatment and prescription costs, coupled with soaring insurance premiums, can have a devastating effect on the cancer patients’ financial well-being.

If you’re fighting cancer and having a hard time covering your prescription costs, experts at the non-profit organization Cancer Support Community recommend that you speak with your pharmacist, healthcare team and insurance company representative about ways to cut expenses. Be sure to ask about co-pays, generic alternatives and mail-order options to curb high prescription costs.