Out-of-Pocket Costs for Some Cancer Patients Top $700 Monthly

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Out-of-Pocket Costs for Some Cancer Patients Top $700 Monthly

<http://on.wsj.com/mIcvtf> http://on.wsj.com/mIcvtf

snip: Some 30% of respondents said their expenses were a " significant

burden " and 11% called them a " catastrophic problem. "

All but one of those surveyed had insurance, mostly Medicare, and 83% had

prescription-drug coverage.

There are some caveats to the findings. Most of the patients found their way

to the study via the HealthWell Foundation, a nonprofit group that provides

financial assistance for out-of-pocket health-care costs, mostly

prescription-related. (The rest of the study participants were being treated

at Duke.) Most of the study participants had a household income of less than

$40,000.

So the findings may not represent the experience of all cancer patients.

Patients Against Lymphoma

www.Lymphomation.org

Evidence-based information on lymphoma, independent of health industry

funding