The cost of cancer care and impact of financial hardship on treatment
https://www.facingourrisk.org/XRAY/financial-hardships-of-breast-cancer
Full article: https://khn.org/news/pricey-precision-medicine-often-financially-toxic-for-cancer-patients/
Several recent studies on the cost of cancer care show the negative effects on cancer patients. We review an article by Kaiser Health News and associated studies about the financial impact of breast cancer treatment and cost of precision medicine. (2/8/19)
Questions To Ask Your Health Care Provider
- How much will my treatment cost?
- Will insurance providers cover this treatment cost?
- What are the projected copays or deductibles associated with my cancer treatment with my insurance coverage?
- Are there any options or financial arrangements that will allow me to pay my treatment costs over time?
- Are there open clinical trials that are appropriate for me?
- If alternative treatments are available, what are the benefits, risks and costs of each?
Open Clinical Trials
- NCT03572374: Talking to Employers and Medical Staff About Breast Cancer Treatment and Your Job (TEAMWORK Study). The purpose of the TEAMWork study is to learn more about how being treated for breast cancer affects patients' employment. Researchers are testing an early version of a mobile app called TEAMWork (Talking to Employers And Medical staff about Work) that is designed to help breast cancer patients keep their jobs during and after treatment.
- NCT02333604: Cancer Experience Registry. This is a web-based registry that distributes surveys to better understand the social, emotional, physical, financial and decision-making experiences of cancer patients and their caregivers.
- NCT04960787: Financial Navigation Program to Improve Understanding and Management of Financial Aspects of Cancer Care for Patients and Their Spouses. This clinical trial examines a financial navigation program in helping patients and their spouses understand and better manage the financial aspects of cancer care.
- NCT04397016: Cost Talk: Discussing Cancer Care Costs. This study will look at how well a decision aid (used during a consultation) containing cost information about options, combined with clinician training about cost discussions and available financial resources help patients with slow-growing prostate cancer.
- NCT04931251: Addressing Cancer-Related Financial Toxicity in Rural Oncology Care Settings. The purpose of this study is to conduct a financial navigation program in 5 rural and 4 non-rural oncology practices in North Carolina and evaluate the effects of financial navigation on patient outcomes, including financial toxicity and health-related quality of life.
- NCT04766190: DISCO: A Patient Intervention to Reduce the Financial Burden of Cancer. The DISCO App is designed to improve, during the interaction, patient active participation and patient-initiated oncologist treatment cost discussions, and, in the short term, patient's treatment cost knowledge, self-efficacy for managing both cost and physician interactions, referrals, perceived financial toxicity (i.e., distress and material hardship); in turn, these will affect longer-term outcomes of financial toxicity and adherence.
- NCT04314284: Patient-Centered Intervention to Reduce Cancer Patients' Financial Toxicity. This study will look at an intervention to prompt screening for financial distress, facilitate discussions about care costs with for colorectal or gynecologic cancer patients, support health insurance selection, and ultimately reduce cancer patients' financial toxicity associated with cancer care.
About FORCE
FORCE is a national nonprofit organization, established in 1999. Our mission is to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by adult hereditary cancers.