Health Insurance And Spending Among Cancer Patients

Abstract

Over 1.3 million new cancer cases are diagnosed each year. While most cancer patients are older and covered by Medicare, our analysis indicates that 10 percent of cancer patients under age sixty-five are uninsured and that 20 percent of Hispanic cancer patients under age sixty-five are uninsured. We find substantial differences in cancer spending by insurance status; uninsured patients under age sixty-five spent 57 percent as much over a six-month period as privately insured patients spent for their cancer care. We present evidence to show that spending differences are due in part or completely to differences in use, which suggests that raising coverage rates will improve cancer treatment.