US Cancer Costs Study Shows Importance of Health Insurance

A new study from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at Emory University has revealed that the cost of treating cancer in America has almost doubled over the past twenty years. The study, led by Dr Florence Tangka, examined data from two large scale telephone surveys conducted by the National Medical Care Expenditure Survey and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

In a study which highlights the growing importance of health insurance, the total medical cost of cancer in the US amounted to $48.1 billion between 2001 and 2005, compared with $24.7 billion in 1987. Whereas private health cover shelled out for 42 per cent of these costs in 1987, this figure rose to 50 per cent in 2001-2005, while Medicare bore a relatively stable proportion of the costs, at 33 per cent and 34 per cent respectively.

The study attributed the increased costs of cancer care to an increasingly aged population and a greater prevalence of cancer. Though many poor Americans have traditionally not held private medical insurance policies, this latest study indicates the value of the new health care legislation in making insurance mandatory to help pay hospital bills.