The skyrocketing costs of cancer treatments has created a toxic situation for bankrupt cancer patients. A study put out by the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center has shown that the financial problems that cancer patients will face can be almost as deadly as the disease itself, and that bankrupt cancer patients are even more likely to die from the disease. There are many people who do not plan on getting cancer and are not prepared for the financial devastation that the disease causes. Even people that have health insurance are still hit with major cancer treatment costs. This article discusses the efforts by groups like the Hutchison Institute for Cancer Outcomes Research (HICOR) to reform the system of cancer treatment. There are also tips that patients can use to reduce costs that are provided in the article.
See Diane Mapes, Cancer, bankruptcy and death: study finds a link, Fred Hutch News Service, January 25, 2016.
Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.
