The financial toxicity of cancer is growing. Here’s how we reduce it

[Pelican Press 0]

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The financial toxicity of ******* is growing. Here’s how we reduce it

Medical personnel use a mammogram to examine a woman’s ******* for ******* *******.

Hannibal Hanschke | dpa | Picture Alliance | Getty Images

******* drains individuals of their physical, emotional, and financial health. Given the impact on both patients and the people in their lives — including their employer — it’s time that CEOs take note and take action to reduce the burden of *******.

In a

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, nearly half of ******* patients and survivors reported being extraordinarily burdened by medical debt. Many respondents

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from their ******* treatment for more than one year, and 42% of people with *******

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.

Financial hardship caused by ******* can also contribute to “

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,” wherein the cost of treatment forces individuals to make tradeoffs that impact their chances of survival. These may include

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such as skipping or halving ******* medications to stretch their supply, or being unable to complete ******* care as planned due to the high costs of transportation to or housing near ******* treatment centers. This model isn’t sustainable, and

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of new, life-saving ******* therapies will impose additional financial toxicities — and an increasingly large threat to patients’ lives.

Not only does financial toxicity of ******* care affect the individual, it can also negatively impact their employer. As the providers of health insurance coverage for

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, employers and unions shoulder much of *******’s financial burden. Today,

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in the U.S., and the burden is growing.

For the first time in history,

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Americans will receive a new ******* diagnosis in 2024. While increasing ******* incidence can be attributed in part to our aging population (******* risk increases with age), we also see a disturbing national trend in which

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. These are people who would still likely be in the workforce, using employer-sponsored health insurance. As a result, employers are asking what they can do to reduce the burden of ******* on their populations — and their bottom line.

Patients, families, and employers all “win” when cancers are diagnosed at an early stage. Detecting ******* early not only

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, it significantly

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. Overall, treatment costs for someone diagnosed at stage IV — when ******* has spread throughout the body — are an average of

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than for those diagnosed at stage I, when the ******** is localized. The first year of treatment for colorectal *******, which affects

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individuals each year in the ******* States and is

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in younger populations, costs an average of

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when diagnosed at stage I, with about a

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. By contrast, stage IV colorectal ******* drives average treatment costs of

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in the first year, and five-year survival rates are

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. Evidence suggests that if individuals could only take advantage of the prevention, early detection, and ******* treatment strategies that exist today, the ******* mortality rate would decline by

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.

These statistics are profound and strongly suggest that concerted efforts from employers and individuals to encourage ******* prevention and early detection would improve health and reduce health-care costs. Today, our best tool to achieve this is screening. Adherence to recommended screening guidelines — like those

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by ACS — could save the U.S. health-care system

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in avoided treatment costs.

Despite the importance of early detection and proven value of screening, access to preventive care ******** a barrier to better outcomes. At present, a staggering 65% of eligible Americans are out-of-date with recommended ******* screenings. Covid-19 restrictions delayed or prevented

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******* screenings in 2020 alone, likely leading to

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that would have normally been caught earlier.

There are also logistical and societal barriers that contribute to financial toxicities and impact a person’s ability to get screened. People may need to take time off work or arrange childcare to attend a screening appointment. They may need to weigh potential future treatment costs against their need to pay rent. Some may not be

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they’re eligible for screening, and stigma and ***** associated with ******* screening hinders some people from seeking care. Inequities according to one’s

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— including where they live, their income, education level, access to healthcare and healthy foods, and other social determinants of health — create roadblocks to preventive care. To realize the benefits of early detection on individuals and organizations, it’s important that we develop new strategies to remove these barriers.

********* ******* Society CEO Karen Knudsen

NYSE

ACS is committed to tackling *******, approaching the challenge of improving access to care and reducing financial toxicity from multiple angles. Similar or supportive action from U.S. employers will increase our collective impact against *******’s burden.

Toward the goal of increasing early detection,

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in a ****** venture to improve access to screening and preventive care through employers and unions. By making it easier and more convenient for employees to get care — with at-home testing kits and care navigation support across their ******* journey — this program aims to increase awareness, accessibility, and affordability of ******* screening and early detection. Notably, organizations taking advantage of the ACS-****** program have witnessed a 77% increase in ******* screening adherence.

In addition to direct screening initiatives, programs like

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and

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remove the cost burdens of transportation and lodging for ******* treatment. Other partnerships through

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, ACS’s donor-funded innovation and investment arm, provide access to a wide range of solutions that help people navigate the financial complexities of ******* across the continuum of care. One BrightEdge portfolio company,

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, offers a platform to help patients find resources to cover the cost of treatment and reduce out-of-pocket expenses. Further investments aim to bring the patient voice into therapy and diagnostic development, to enable a future generation of sustainable ******* innovations that reduce patients’ financial distress.

Advocacy is also key to reducing financial toxicity. ACS’s ******* Action Network advocates for

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to help currently uninsured individuals access screening and preventive care. To bring down the cost of prescription drugs, ACS CAN has also successfully advocated for “smoothing,” a policy that allows Medicare beneficiaries to spread out their prescription ***** costs over the course of the year. By making payments more manageable for patients, we remove a crucial element of the ******* financial challenge.

******* will impact

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at some point in their lifetime. By facilitating guideline-recommended screening and activating programs that make early detection affordable and accessible, employers can offset financial toxicities and improve outcomes for people across the country. When employers help their employees get screened, they bring us one step closer to ending ******* — and its costs — as we know it.

—By Karen Knudsen, CEO of the ********* ******* Society (ACS) and the ********* ******* Society ******* Action Network (ACS CAN). She is also a member of the

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.

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#financial #toxicity #******* #growing #Heres #reduce

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