In 2024, almost two million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer for the first time ever. This is putting a great deal of financial strain on survivors and cancer patients alike: almost half of them said their medical debt was extremely burdensome. This emphasises the need of early cancer detection, which not only increases survival rates but also dramatically reduces medical expenses.
People with cancer lose their financial, emotional, and physical well-being. CEOs need to wake up to the fact that cancer affects patients and everyone in their lives, including their employer, and take steps to lessen the disease’s impact.
According to an American Cancer Society research, almost half of cancer patients and survivors said their medical debt was a huge burden.
Cancer-related financial stress can also lead to “financial toxicity,” a condition in which people are forced to make decisions about their prospects of survival due to the high expense of treatment. Non-biologic causes could include not being able to finish cancer treatment on time because of the high cost of dwelling near cancer treatment facilities or skipping or reducing cancer medications to stretch their supply. This strategy is unsustainable, and the growing expenses of novel, life-saving cancer treatments will result in more financial toxicities and a growing risk to the lives of patients.
The financial toll that receiving cancer treatment has not just on the patient but also on their workplace. A large portion of the financial burden associated with cancer is borne by businesses and unions, who offer health insurance to almost half of the nation. In the United States, cancer is currently the primary cause of medical expenses for mid- and large-sized businesses, and this burden is only increasing.
In 2024, almost 2 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer for the first time ever. A troubling national trend is that younger people are receiving diagnoses for 17 major malignancies, which can be partially linked to the ageing of our society (cancer risk increases with age). These are individuals who most likely would continue to be employed and make use of employer-sponsored health benefits. Employers are therefore enquiring as to what steps they may take to lessen the impact of cancer on their workforces — and their bot.
Early cancer diagnosis is a “win” for patients, families, and employers alike. Early cancer detection not only increases survival rates but also drastically reduces medical expenses. The average difference in treatment expenditures between a patient diagnosed at stage IV (when the cancer has spread throughout the body) and a patient diagnosed at stage I (when the disease is localised) is $156,000. With a 90% five-year survival rate, the initial year of therapy for colorectal cancer, which affects over 150,000 people annually in the US and is becoming more common in younger populations, costs an average of $111,000 when it is detected at stage I. On the other hand, the average first-year treatment cost for stage IV colorectal cancer is $256,000 and less than 20% of people survive for five years. Research indicates that the cancer death rate would drop by 30% to 50% if people could just benefit from the current cancer prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment measures.
These figures are significant and strongly imply that if companies and people worked together to promote cancer prevention and early detection, health outcomes would be enhanced and medical expenses would be decreased. Screening is currently the best tool we have for doing this. Following suggested screening criteria, such as those released by the American College of Surgeons, may prevent $26 billion in treatment expenditures from entering the US healthcare system each year.
Access to preventive treatment continues to be a barrier to improved outcomes, despite the significance of early detection and the demonstrated benefits of screening. A startling 65% of Americans who qualify are now unaware of the required cancer screenings. In 2020 alone, Covid-19 limits caused 9.4 million cancer screenings to be postponed or prevented, which most likely resulted in later-stage diagnoses that would have otherwise been detected early.
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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 aware they’re eligible for screening, and stigma and fear associated with cancer screening hinders some people from seeking care. Inequities according to one’s socioeconomic status — 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.
In addition, societal and practical obstacles can impede someone’s capacity to get checked and exacerbate financial toxicities. Attending a screening visit may require people to schedule childcare or take time off from work. They might have to compare the expense of possible future medical care to their rent payment obligations. Some people may not be aware that they qualify for screening, and the stigma and anxiety around cancer screening prevent some people from getting the care they need. Preventive treatment is hampered by disparities based on a person’s socioeconomic situation, which includes their place of residence, income, education, access to nutritious foods and healthcare, and other social determinants of health. In order to reap the rewards of early detection for both people and organisations, it’s critical that we create fresh approaches to eliminate these obstacles.
The American Cancer Society, or ACS, is dedicated to fighting cancer and will take a multifaceted strategy to enhancing patient access to care and lowering financial toxicity. Employers in the United States should take similar or encouraging measures to strengthen our combined force against the cancer burden.
In an effort to increase early detection, ACS and Colour Health have joined up to create a collaborative venture that would increase access to screening and preventative treatment through unions and employers. With at-home testing kits and care navigation support throughout their cancer journey, this program intends to make cancer screening and early detection more widely known, accessible, and affordable for employees while also improving their quality of life. Interestingly, ACS-Color program participants have seen a 77% increase in cancer screening adherence.
Programs like Road to Recovery and ACS Hope Lodges, in addition to direct screening campaigns, eliminate the financial burden of travel and housing associated with cancer treatment. Other collaborations made possible by donations to ACS’s donor-funded innovation and investment arm, BrightEdge, give people access to a variety of resources that support them in navigating the financial challenges associated with cancer throughout the course of their treatment. TailorMed, a BrightEdge portfolio company, provides a platform to assist patients in locating ways to lower their out-of-pocket costs and pay for their medical care. In order to facilitate the creation of a future generation of sustainable cancer technologies that lessen patients’ financial hardship, additional investments are intended to incorporate patient feedback into therapy and diagnostic development.
A crucial component of lessening financial toxicity is advocacy. The ACS Cancer Action Network promotes Medicaid expansion as a means of facilitating access to screening and preventive treatment for those who do not currently have insurance. ACS CAN has also been effective in advocating for “smoothing,” a program that permits Medicare beneficiaries to spread out their prescription medication payments over the course of the year, in an effort to reduce the cost of prescription pharmaceuticals. We remove a significant component of the financial hardship associated with cancer by making payments more bearable for patients.
One in two women and one in three men will have cancer at some point in their lives. Employers may counteract financial toxicity and enhance results for individuals nationwide by supporting screening that is advised by guidelines and launching initiatives that make early detection accessible and cheap. Employers who assist with employee screenings move us one step closer to the goal of eradicating cancer and its associated costs.
