Managing the cost of cancer treatment. Assuming a 2 percent annual increase in medical costs in the initial and final phases of care — which would mirror recent trends — the projected 2020 costs increased to $173 billion. Here are some questions you can ask about costs.

Cancer Basics ... ask about, and discuss treatment costs with your cancer care team. The projections were based on the most recent data available on cancer incidence, survival, and costs of care.

The American Cancer Society is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Find Support Programs and Services in Your Area, Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walks, Common Questions About the COVID-19 Outbreak, Things to Know About the Cost of Your Cancer Treatment, If You Have Problems Paying a Medical Bill, Programs and Resources to Help With Cancer-related Expenses, Understanding Financial and Legal Matters, Lab tests (blood tests, urine tests, and more, which are usually billed separately), Procedures (for diagnosis or treatment, which can include room charges, equipment, different doctors, and more), Imaging tests (like x-rays, CT scans, and MRIs, which may mean separate bills for radiologist fees, equipment, and any medicines used for the test), Radiation treatments (implants, external radiation, or both), Drug costs (chemo or other medicines that treat your cancer that may be inpatient, outpatient, prescription, non-prescription, and procedure-related), Hospital stays (which can include many types of costs such as drugs, tests, and procedures as well as nursing care, doctor visits, and consults with specialists), Surgery (surgeon, anesthesiologist, pathologist, operating room fees, equipment, medicines, and more), Home care (can include equipment, drugs, visits from specially trained nurses, and more), Specialist referrals (other specialty doctors, physical therapy, and others). Medical cost estimates were obtained using the SEER-Medicare database which links SEER data to Medicare claims data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, the researchers also did additional analyses to account for changes in cancer incidence and survival rates and for the likelihood that cancer care costs will increase as new technologies and treatments are developed. If cancer incidence and survival rates and costs remain stable and the U.S. population ages at the rate predicted by the U.S. Census Bureau, direct cancer care expenditures would reach $158 billion in 2020, the report said. You can help reduce your risk of cancer by making healthy choices like eating right, staying active and not smoking.

Our team is made up of doctors and oncology certified nurses with deep knowledge of cancer care as well as journalists, editors, and translators with extensive experience in medical writing. Because of the aging of the U.S. population, the researchers expect the largest increase in cancer survivors over the next 10 years to be among Americans age 65 and older. Keep careful records of your health care costs.

You might want to ask a trusted friend or family member to keep track of costs for you. Helps under-insured patients with certain cancer diagnoses cover out-of-pocket costs related to cancer care. The cost of multimodal treatment of mesothelioma (combination of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy) is comparable to that of lung cancer, which averages between $55,548 and $79,8181 during the initial six months of care, according to a January 2019 study published in Cancer … Accessed at https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/out-of-pocket-costs/ on February 27, 2019.