From 1995-2014, prices for cancer drugs, such as chemotherapy, have skyrocketed by four times their original cost. As a result, patients are forced to pay almost $12,000 out of pocket after insurance, a figure that has placed significant stress on many families.
Chemotherapy is a medical treatment used to treat a variety of cancers, but can be expensive. Based on the stage of the cancer and how deadly it is, the treatment involves multiple rounds of fast-acting drugs that move in to neutralize the growth of the malignant cells.
On a more personal level, the potency of the drugs can often put the patient in terrible states, causing distress for their families. Coming out of chemotherapy, however, is not the end of the line. Families must deal with financial toxicity, a devastating condition experienced due to the high costs of the drugs.
Financial toxicity is described as the results of the financial distress of cancer treatments on families who endure this well past the conclusion of therapy. According to a report by the National Cancer institute, Ide Mills was one of the several patients who intentionally did not take her medicine at the due date to preserve it for the long term.
Missing cycles of treatment can have negative effects according to Dermatologist Ravindrakumar Gangadharia. “Missing doses of treatment can have numerous effects on the patient, the most important being letting the cancer grow. As the cancer grows more resistant to the doses, patients would have to extend the length of their treatment, causing financial and physical issues,” affirmed Gangadharia.
While reforms such as the Affordable Care Act have limited out-of-pocket spending, some families still find it difficult to ignore such a daunting expense when caring for their loved ones.
Senior Callahan Morton had to witness this experience when her mother underwent chemotherapy. “Chemotherapy was incredibly taxing physically on my mom, but she always kept a positive outlook on life and cherished the fact that she could even get chemotherapy treatment to get better,” she affirmed.
Nevertheless, the thought of facing the costs post-treatment worried the Morton family. “As for expenses, it absolutely caused more stress than there already was mainly because my mom was unable to work a lot of the time. It was overwhelming and hard financially, but we luckily paid it off in 8 years,” Morton shared. While Morton was able to pay off the financial burden, there were other individuals who had to move for a higher-paying job to pay off the debt.
In the last 10 years, health care reforms such as Medicaid have reduced the risk of financial toxicity, but it still remains a growing concern. Watching her mother get treated for such a debilitating disease while worrying about the bills has caused Morton to advocate for lower cancer drug costs. “I do believe that the prices are too high because the means to survive should never be denied to anyone because of their financial disadvantages,” asserted Morton.
Other individuals like Morton believe that focusing on cancer is the most important part of the process, but the lingering thought of paying off thousands of families can be an immense distraction.
