The Challenges Of Cancer Treatment
We all hate hearing about the big C. It’s as if an ice-cold water was suddenly poured over you and it is now the end of the world (for you, anyway) upon hearing a cancer diagnosis. And in a way, it is true. Most cancer patients die soon after getting diagnosed or a few years later at most. But as our world continues to progress, it seems as if our health is also on the line. Many of the health ailments that we are battling right now like cancer are lifestyle-induced. Living a sedentary lifestyle, eating mostly junks, sweets, and preserved foods, and our preoccupation with gadgets that emit dangerous blue light and unnecessary radiation, among others all predisposes us to various diseases and ailments that we could have avoided if only we led a healthier and more active life.
On top of that, cancer treatment does not come cheap. And you don’t just get better after a single chemotherapy session especially if you are in the advanced or terminal stage already. After overcoming the shock and fear of getting diagnosed, the real battle can only begin if you have the money to burn for treatment. Medicines are expensive and both in-patient and out-patient treatments cost money too and not all the time it is covered by your medical insurance (if you have one). Many times a patient die because they couldn’t afford to get treated. A sad reality, but it is true. Doctors can’t always save the lives of their patients no matter their expertise because these diseases themselves evolve over time and become deadlier than ever.
The emotional and physical costs of cancer can be staggering. But the financial side of cancer is also a great burden, with many patients in the United States struggling to pay for treatment, new research reveals.
“The current health law has greatly improved access to meaningful health coverage for cancer patients, survivors and all those with chronic diseases,” Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, said in a network news release.
“Yet costs remain a challenge for those facing cancer. Our country and our lawmakers should come together to find bipartisan solutions that begin to address patient costs without sacrificing the quality of coverage,” he urged.
Anyone who gets diagnosed with cancer sure feels devastated. Not only is the uncertainty of their health and their life causing them unnecessary worries and anxiety and even make them lose sleep at night but the pain and many discomforts of the disease can’t be easily ignored as well. Up to now, no real solution to cancer has been discovered yet and most treatments focus on the palliative (symptomatic treatment) but still cost just as much money.
Patients and financial navigators also often have difficulty determining the cost of a procedure ahead of time, the report said.
Navigators told the researchers that even though most cancer treatment is now covered by insurers, patients often have medical management requirements. These can include prior authorizations or step-therapy, where a patient must take a less-expensive medication before receiving a more expensive one.
This places an additional burden on patients as they try to get timely and effective treatment, the authors of the report explained.
The report was a joint effort by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms.
Modern medicine has improved a lot over the years but there are still many mysteries and controversies surrounding the practice. And in a big way, pharmaceutical companies also have to do with it. But regardless how much these global businesses influence the practice of medicine especially in the treatment of cancer, the bottom line here is that cancer patients have no choice but to decide whether to proceed or not with treatment if they can afford it. After all, treatment is not always a guarantee of survival.
Today’s world actually has a long list of arsenal to help them develop and manufacture safe and effective anti-cancer treatments but it hasn’t been done so yet. Let us put our hope that such a solution will be made available soon and at an affordable price too, so cancer patients no longer have to suffer and then consequently die because medicines are expensive and most of them simply can’t afford treatment on their own.