High out‑of‑pocket spending and financial hardship at the end of life among cancer survivors and their families

Israel Journal of Health Policy Research

Commentary

Jingxuan Zhao¹  K. Robin Yabroff¹ 

[1]Surveillance and Health Equity Science, American Cancer Society, 3380 Chastain Meadows Pkwy NW Suite 200, 30144, Kennesaw, GA, USA

关键词: Cancer;    End-of-life care;    Financial hardship;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s13584-023-00572-x

 received in 2023-04-20, accepted in 2023-06-02,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

Cancer is one of the most expensive medical conditions to treat worldwide, affecting national and local spending, as well as household budgets for patients and their families. In this commentary about a recent paper from Tur‑Sinai et al., we discuss the high out-of-pocket spending and medical and non-medical financial hardship faced by cancer patients and their families at the end-of-life in Israel. We provide recent information about the costs of health care in Israel and other high-income countries with (i.e., Canada, Australia, Japan, and Italy) and without universal health insurance coverage (i.e., United States, a country with high healthcare costs and uninsurance rate), and highlight the role of improving health insurance coverage and benefit design in reducing financial hardship among cancer patients and their families. Recognizing that financial hardship at the end of life affects both patients and their families, developing comprehensive programs and policies in Israel as well as in other countries is warranted.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

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