Over the last decade, costs of treating cancer patients has not increased any faster than overall costs for Medicare and commercially insured populations,according to a new Milliman study commissioned by the Community Oncology Alliance.
Despite a commonly held misbelief that cancer care costs have rapidly outpaced other healthcare spending trends, the study found that total costs of treating cancer patients have increased at essentially the same rate as all healthcare spending since 2004.
The study analyzed claims data for the Medicare and commercially insured patient populations from 2004-2014. The study has released April 5 in conjunction with a briefing to U.S. congressional healthcare staff as well as a meeting with CMS.
Here are seven findings from the study.
1. From 2004-2014, the study found increases in costs were essentially the same in actively treated cancer patients — people with one or more claims for chemotherapy, radiation therapy or cancer surgery in a given year — and those without a cancer diagnosis.
2. In the Medicare population, the increases in costs over the study period were 35.2 percent per patient per year for the total population, 36.4 percent for the actively treated cancer population and 34.8 percent for the non-cancer population. For the commercially insured, the cost increases were 62.9 percent for the total population, 62.5 percent for the actively treated cancer population, and 60.8 percent for the non-cancer population.
3. Researchers also found large increases in drug spending, which made up one-fifth of the total costs in actively treated cancer patients in 2014.
4. The portion of drug spending associated with all chemotherapy (including biologic, cytotoxic and other chemotherapy and cancer drugs) in the actively treated cancer population increased over the study period from 15 percent to 18 percent in the Medicare population and from 15 percent to 20 percent in the commercially insured population.
5. The study also analyzed cost trends in the site of service for chemotherapy infusion. It found that the site of service for chemotherapy infusion in the U.S. has dramatically shifted away from the physician office to the generally higher-cost hospital outpatient settings.
6. According to the study, the proportion of chemotherapy infusions delivered in hospital outpatient departments nearly tripled in the Medicare population during the study period, increasing from 15.8 percent to 45.9 percent. For the commercially insured population the increase was much more dramatic, rising from 5.8 percent to 45.9 percent.
7. The study found patients who received chemotherapy in the hospital outpatient setting incurred a significantly higher cost than patients whose chemotherapy was delivered entirely in a physician office. For Medicare patients, the difference was $13,167 (37 percent) higher in 2004 and $16,208 (34 percent) higher in 2014. For commercially insured patients the cost was $19,475 (25 percent) higher in 2004, and $46,272 (42 percent) higher in 2014.
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