The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) recently hosted a policy forum that focused on the latest research on treatment costs.
According to ACS CAN, Cancer patients paid nearly $4 billion in out-of-pocket costs nationwide in 2014 alone, with approximately $87.8 billion spent on related health care expenses that same year from employers, insurance carriers and public programs such as Medicare and Medicaid in addition to the patients and families.
The forum was held at Via Christi Hospital – St. Francis in Wichita, Kansas. Sponsors included Bristol-Myers Squibb, Pfizer, Celgene, Genentech, Janssen Oncology, Novartis, AmeriHealth Caritas, Amgen, Central Care Cancer Center, Kansas Hospital Association, Merck and PhRMA.
Via Christi Hospital – St. Francis, is owned by Via Christi Health, which also provides cancer outreach and risk assessment, with cancer screening, counseling and genetic testing as well as a range of general medical services, according to the hospital system.
