Study finds bankruptcy rates among cancer patients increase along with survival time

[Kennah]

http://www.fhcrc.org/about/ne/news/2011/06/06/the_hidden_cost_of_survival.html

Average insolvency rates rise fourfold within five years of diagnosis

CHICAGO — June 6, 2011 — An analysis linking federal bankruptcy court records to cancer registry data from nearly 232,000 adult cancer cases in western Washington during a 14-year period has found a hidden cost to survival: Insolvency rates increase along with the length of survival.

“Patients diagnosed with cancer may face significant financial stress due to income loss and out-of-pocket costs associated with their treatment,” said Scott Ramsey, M.D., Ph.D., a health care economist and internist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center who led the study. “On average, bankruptcy rates increased fourfold within five years of diagnosis.” Ramsey presented the findings June 6 at the 2011 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago.

The study found that compared to the general population, bankruptcy rates were nearly twice as high among cancer patients one year after diagnosis, and that the median time to bankruptcy was two and a half years after diagnosis.

“The risk of bankruptcy for cancer patients is not well known, and previous studies have relied on individual self-reports about medically related reasons for bankruptcy filing,” said Ramsey, a member of the Hutchinson Center’s Public Health Sciences Division. “By linking two irrefutable government records of cancer and bankruptcy, we are able to determine how financial insolvency risk varies by cancer type, treatment and other factors,” he said.

[murphyj87]

1. That is why they come to Canada.....

Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett, who is also a doctor, said the Palin family’s story is not unique {of Americans coming to Canada for health care in preference to American health care}.

“Certainly as a family doctor I treated lots of Americans {coming across the border from the U.S. for Canadian health care}.”

When she testified before a U.S. Senate committee in September, Bennett told the story of U.S. Vietnam veterans who had to go to Canada for cancer treatment because they couldn’t afford medical care in the country they fought for.

Bennett said Palin should bear in mind the high cost of medical care is a leading cause of bankruptcies in the U.S.

[supernova]

2. If I could, I'd do the same

No serious illness yet, but I do have a condition that needs monitoring and I can't afford to to that right now. And private insurance, when I can get it is too expensive.

[murphyj87]

3. Whereas....

For 15 years I have gone to my physician three to four times a year to have my hypertension gotten under tight control and my meds re-prescribed and adjusted with no out of pocket cost. My hypertension has been gotten under such tight (over)control (97/64) that my physician, for the first time in 15 years, actually cut them back slightly. It is situations like this, compared to what you say, which demonstrates why Canadians live an average of four years longer than Americans.

[Kennah]

4. If push comes to shove ...

... I suspect a lot of Americans, myself perhaps included, are going to move closer to the Canadian border.