Independent Oncology Practices in the COVID-19 Era—Does US Cancer Care Need a Bailout?
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed the fragility of US cancer care. Though half of US oncology practices are independent, these mostly physician-owned practices, sometimes the only cancer care providers in their communities, often struggled financially even before the pandemic. Today, with COVID-19 expected to result in at least 19 million people becoming uninsured or transitioning to Medicaid and national guidelines recommending careful consideration or delay of cancer treatment, outpatient cancer visits are at half of prepandemic levels, and chemotherapy administration is down 13%.
