Cancer drugs could cost more than Medicare patients pay for food, says UNC study
A cancer diagnosis not only wreaks havoc on the body, it can also inflict a significant hit in patients’ bank accounts.
Research led by Stacie Dusetzina of UNC-Chapel Hill found that in 2010, a typical course of oral chemotherapy drugs cost Medicare patients up to $8,100 per year on average. New health reform policies have tried to soften that cost, but even by 2020, when the so called Medicare Part D “doughnut hole” (or coverage gap) closes, Medicare patients will still have to pay $5,600 out of pocket per year on average, a figure higher than what the average Medicare beneficiary’s household spends on food each year.
