The Financial Burden of Cancer on Families in the United States

<span>This study examined the
relationship between a diagnosis of cancer and the likelihood of having any out
of pocket costs (OOPC) and medical debt, and the amounts of OOPC and medical
debt, at the household level. We used the 2011 Panel Study of Income
Dynamics, an ongoing nationally representative
panel survey that collects detailed socioeconomic and demographic data in the United States. The
analytic sample included households where heads and their spouse (if
married) were between 18 and 64 years old. Adjusted logistic
regression models and generalized linear models with logarithmic link and a gamma distribution were
used. Two models were used. Model 1 controlled for the gender, age, race,
marital status, and education of the head of household, and household variables
of the number of children in the household, the number of chronic health
conditions for the
head of household and spouse if married, and households where
both the head and the spouse (if married) reported a diagnosis of cancer. Model 2 additionally controlled
for home equity. <span>Related to OOPC, both models showed that
having a diagnosis of cancer increased a households likelihood of having any OOPC
by 119% (<i>p</i> &lt; .01) compared to
those that did not have a diagnosis of cancer. Additionally, for households
with positive amounts of OOPC, it was found that a diagnosis of cancer increased
</span><span>the amount of OOPC by 24% (<i>p </i>&lt; .01)</span>
compared to households without a diagnosis of cancer. Related to medical debt, Model 1
showed that h<span>aving a diagnosis of cancer increased a households likelihood of
having any medical debt by 67% (<i>p </i>=
.052) compared to those without a diagnosis of cancer. However, when including
home equity in Model 2, </span>h<span>aving a
diagnosis of cancer increased a households likelihood of having any medical
debt by 78% (<i>p </i>&lt; .05) compared to
those without a diagnosis of cancer. Further, a diagnosis of cancer increased </span>the amount of medical
debt similarly for Model 1 (101%) and
Model 2 (102%) for households with positive amounts of
medical debt compared to those without a diagnosis of cancer<span> (<i>p </i>&lt; .05). All tests of significance were two-sided. </span>This study shows that a diagnosis of cancer
imposes a significant financial burden on families in the United States even
after controlling for systematic differences between households with a
diagnosis of cancer compared to those without a diagnosis of cancer.</span>

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