visits , emergency room visits , and hospital inpatient stays . For cancer survivors with health insurance coverage , out-of-pocket cost is their share of the cost that is not covered by insurance , such as copays , deductibles , and coinsurance . Cancer survivors without health insurance or with limited coverage may be responsible for the entire cost of care .
The economic burden to people with cancer is more than out-of-pocket costs . It also includes the time spent receiving medical care that could have been spent on a person ’ s normal everyday activities . This part of the economic burden of cancer is called patient time cost .
How do you estimate the time cost of cancer care ?
The time cost of cancer care ( also called the opportunity cost ) is the value of the time that cancer survivors spend traveling to and from care , waiting for care , and receiving care . It represents time not spent with friends and family , at work , or on leisure activities . Patient time costs are estimated by adding up the hours that a person with cancer usually spends on health care and multiplying it by the hourly value of patient time . The median wage rate for an adult is often used to represent this hourly value . Time costs can be substantial and can be an additional economic burden for cancer survivors and their families .
This year ’ s annual report focused on the economic burden of cancer . What are the main findings ?
We found that the economic burden associated with cancer care in the United States is substantial , both nationally and for individual cancer survivors . In 2019 , the national patient economic burden associated with cancer care was estimated to be $ 21.09 billion . This estimate includes patient out-of-pocket costs of $ 16.22 billion and patient time costs of $ 4.87 billion .
We also found that the cost varied by age , stage at diagnosis , and phase of care . For example , out-of-pocket costs per person were generally higher among adult cancer survivors aged 18 to 64 than among those 65 or older .
Among adults 65 or older who had Medicare coverage , out-of-pocket costs were generally higher for those diagnosed with advanced cancer than early-stage disease .
On average , adult cancer survivors experienced about $ 300 in time costs because of cancer care each year . This cost was higher among cancer survivors aged 18 to 64 than among those 65 or older . It was also higher among adults who had been diagnosed in the last 2 years compared to those diagnosed more than 2 years ago .
Were there differences in patient economic burden by cancer type or other factors ?
We found major differences in the pattern and magnitude of patient out-of-pocket costs depending on where cancer was found in the body . In 2019 , national out-of-pocket costs were highest for the four most common cancers :