Washington State Cancer Patients Found To Be At Greater Risk For Bankruptcy Than People Without A Cancer Diagnosis

TLDR

Much has been written about the relationship between high medical expenses and bankruptcy, but the link between a cancer diagnosis and bankruptcy is less understood. The study aimed to estimate the incidence and relative risk of bankruptcy among adults diagnosed with cancer versus those without cancer. This was done via a retrospective cohort analysis using diverse medical, personal, legal, and bankruptcy records from the Western District of Washington State (1995‑2009). Cancer patients were 2.65 times more likely to file for bankruptcy, with younger patients experiencing 2‑5 times higher rates than those aged 65 or older, suggesting Medicare and Social Security may mitigate risk for older patients and indicating a policy role for employers and governments in supporting expenses after diagnosis.

Abstract

Much has been written about the relationship between high medical expenses and the likelihood of filing for bankruptcy, but the relationship between receiving a cancer diagnosis and filing for bankruptcy is less well understood. We estimated the incidence and relative risk of bankruptcy for people age twenty-one or older diagnosed with cancer compared to people the same age without cancer by conducting a retrospective cohort analysis that used a variety of medical, personal, legal, and bankruptcy sources covering the Western District of Washington State in US Bankruptcy Court for the period 1995-2009. We found that cancer patients were 2.65 times more likely to go bankrupt than people without cancer. Younger cancer patients had 2-5 times higher rates of bankruptcy than cancer patients age sixty-five or older, which indicates that Medicare and Social Security may mitigate bankruptcy risk for the older group. The findings suggest that employers and governments may have a policy role to play in creating programs and incentives that could help people cover expenses in the first year following a cancer diagnosis.