Cancer Survivors Burdened With Continuous Growing Expenses

Cancer survivors often face financial crises due to growing medical costs, missed work, and reduced productivity, according to a new CDC report.

Cancer survivors face the aftermath of their illness for a long time after their recovery. According to a new report released by the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, such individuals are continuously burdened with financial crises due to growing medical costs, missed work, and reduced productivity.

"Cancer survivors face physical, emotional, psychosocial, employment and financial challenges as a result of their cancer diagnosis and treatment," said Donatus U. Ekwueme, a senior health economist at CDC's Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, in a press statement. "With the number of cancer survivors expected to increase by more than 30 percent in the next decade - to 18 million Americans -- medical and public health professionals must be diligent in their efforts to help reduce the burden of cancer on survivors and their families."

CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report was released June, 12, which analyses data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's 2008-2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to estimate annual medical costs and productivity losses among male and female cancer survivors and those without a cancer diagnosis. Researchers calculated lost productivity by looking into factors like absenteeism from work due to health issues, being unable to work because of an illness or injury and days spent in bed due to health problems. All these calculations were made between 2008 and 2011.

During this period, researchers found that male cancer survivors had annual medical costs of more than $8,000 per person, and productivity losses of $3,700 compared to males without a history of cancer at $3,900 and $2,300 respectively. Similarly, female cancer survivors had $8,400 in annual medical costs per person and $4,000 in productivity losses compared to females without a history of cancer at $5,100 and $2,700, respectively.

Researchers also found that cancer survivors are most likely to be females, non-Hispanic white, have multiple chronic conditions, or to be in fair or poor health. They also noted that employment disability (not being able to work due to an illness) accounted for 75 percent of lost productivity among cancer survivors. It was also found that more than 25 percent of cancer survivors felt less productive at work.

For individuals that were diagnosed with the disease while being employed, cancer and its treatment resulted in a 25 percent deterioration of physical tasks and a 14 percent deterioration in mental tasks that were required in the job. Researchers also found that more than 32 percent of cancer survivors experienced functional limitations in activities outside their home. More than 42 percent of employed cancer survivors said they had to make adjustments in their work timings and duties.

Unfortunately, more than 10 percent of cancer survivors aged 65 and below didn't have any medical insurance and experienced a larger financial burden compared to other cancer survivors that had some kind of financial aid to pay their medical bills. According to CDC officials, comprehensive health and employment intervention programs may be needed to improve outcomes for cancer survivors and their families.

Further details of the report can be found here.

A previous study found women who receive breast cancer treatment are likely to be unemployed four years later. Researchers also pointed out cancer survivors didn't quit their jobs voluntarily. A whopping 55 percent said that it was important that they worked to support their family while 39 percent admitted to actively looking for jobs after receiving treatment for their illness. Researchers found that the breast cancer survivors who were unemployed were in bad financial conditions too. A 2009 study highlighted that cancer survivors were 37 percent more likely to be unemployed compared to people not treated for cancer.

Cancerandcareers.org provides some useful tips for cancer survivors looking for employment. These include: