The Cost of Cancer
Critical Illness Insurance
In the U.S., an estimated 40% of people will develop cancer during their lifetimes.1
Nearly two million new cancer cases will be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2023.2 A cancer diagnosis can disrupt lives in many ways, both for patients and for their families. In addition to the myriad physical and emotional challenges, many people worry about how they will pay for treatment or what will happen if they aren’t able to work.
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What are the Costs of Cancer?
While there is no price tag for cancer, the National Cancer Institute found that the average cost of cancer care and medications was more than $42,000 in the first year after a diagnosis. Some treatments can cost more than $1 million.3 Costs vary significantly depending on the patient’s type of cancer and the treatments chosen.
The National Cancer Institute estimates that cancer-related medical costs to patients in the U.S. are $21.1 billion, including $16.2 billion in total out-of-pocket costs and $4.9 billion in patient time costs, which include traveling to and from treatment and waiting for and receiving care.4 Time costs alone can be substantial, placing a real economic burden on both patients and their families.
While treatment options continue to advance, they also come with increases in costs. The list price for many prescription medicines now exceeds $100,000 annually, which explains why many patients report difficulty paying medical bills, anxiety about treatment cost, and delayed or forgone medical care due to cost.5
Critical Illness Insurance Can Help
Critical Illness insurance is designed to help you handle the unexpected medical and non-medical expenses of cancer. It’s a type of supplemental insurance, meaning it’s an add-on to your primary health insurance that’s designed to help with excess expenses that are not fully covered.
Benefits are paid directly to you as a lump sum based on your selected coverage amount and can be used however you’d like—for co-pays, deductibles, and medication, or to make up for lost income and to help with mortgage, rent, or car payments.
While cancer can’t always be prevented, Critical Illness insurance issued by The Prudential Insurance Company of America, can help cover the costs of this and other serious illnesses like heart disease and Alzheimer’s. It can offer peace of mind and financial support to cancer patients and their loved ones when they need it most.
Enroll online and secure coverage now.
1 “Cancer Facts & Figures 2023,” American Cancer Society: https://www.cancer.org/content/dam/cancer-org/research/cancer-facts-and-statistics/annual-cancer-facts-and-figures/2023/2023-cancer-facts-and-figures.pdf
2 Cancer Facts & Figures, 2023.
3 “The Crippling Cost of Cancer in the U.S., The Advisory Board, updated March 2023: https://www.advisory.com/daily-briefing/2022/07/12/cancer-debt
4 “The cost of Cancer,” Centers for Disease Control, October 2021: https://blogs.cdc.gov/cancer/2021/10/26/the-cost-of-cancer/#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20the%20national%20patient,diagnosis%2C%20and%20phase%20of%20care.
5 Cancer Facts & Figures, 2023.
6 Kaiser Family Foundation 2022 Health Care Debt Survey: https://www.kff.org/health-costs/report/kff-health-care-debt-survey/
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