How Much Does a Chemotherapy Cost
Chemotherapy Cost
As per the Mesothelioma Center 2019 report, 63% of cancer patients listed economic struggles to go through chemotherapy treatment.
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If a person is diagnosed with cancer, then he or she may be concerned about how much chemotherapy treatment costs. Treating cancer isn’t affordable for everyone and chemotherapy is a process to apply powerful drugs to remove or reduce the increase of cancerous cells. And it is one of the costliest part of the entire treatment cycle. Chemotherapy treatment is not only costly but it also takes a part of your strength, emotions, time, connections, economics, etc. Sometimes, there might be some hidden charges in the process which may increase the chemotherapy cost.
How much Chemotherapy Treatment Cost
The costs you pay for chemotherapy will differ depending on the kind of cancer being treated, the medications and from where you purchase drugs, where you are operated, your health policies, and how frequently and how long you’ll require therapy.
- Where you are treated – A patient generally can take chemotherapy in a hospital outpatient department, clinic or physician’s office. As per the Avalere Health, if you choose to have a Chemotherapy process in a hospital outpatient department then it costs more generally 24% more than getting it in a physician’s office.
Total chemotherapy costs can be divided like:
- Hospital or outpatient Doctor visit charge – 50%
- Hospital stay fees – 35%
- Prescription medicines – 11%
- Type of Cancer Treated- The most important thing in the cost of chemotherapy is the type of cancer and the medicines as per that.
- Brain cancer is the most expensive and after detection of it, in the very first year, it generally costs $108,000 for women and $115,000 for men. Here Chemotherapy costs include total costs of treatment including medicines.
- Skin cancer generally costs an average of $5,000 for women and $5,400 for men in the first year after detection.
- Drugs being used- 11 of the 12 cancer medicines that the Food and Drug Administration confirmed in 2012 were costs generally $100,000 per year.
- As per the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, the cost of cancer drugs can vary from $110 to $6,000 per month.
- Terms of Insurance Policy – If you have insurance then the Chemotherapy depends on dividends, deductibles, co-insurance, plan, etc.
- For example, an employer-sponsored plan offers around $6,000 and an exchange plan generally offers $10,000. There is no money boundary on how much an insurance firm pays on covered costs for your health problem.
How to Save Money in Chemotherapy treatment?
- Health insurance either personal or from your employer, Federal, State run programs can help you to decrease the total costs of Chemotherapy.
- You might also begin a fundraiser campaign on a crowdfunding site online.
- You also may be able to appeal for Social Security disability advantages. Sometime you may also need to travel from one city to another and if it needs then there are many organizations available to offer you free travel.
