Average annual medical expenses for male cancer survivors were more than double those of men with no history of cancer in 2008-2011, while expenditures for female cancer survivors were 64% higher than those of women without a history of cancer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
A male cancer survivor had a mean annual medical expenditure of $8,091 from 2008 to 2011, along with $3,719 in lost productivity from employment disability, missed work days, and lost household productivity. A man without a history of cancer, by comparison, had an annual medical expenditure of $3,904 and a total productivity loss of $2,260, according to the CDC investigators (MMWR 2014;63:505-10).
For a female cancer survivor, annual medical expenditures totaled $8,412, with $4,033 in lost productivity in 2008-2011. In that same time period, a woman with no history of cancer had medical costs of $5,119 and productivity losses of $2,703, the CDC said.
The report was based on data from the 2008-2011 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (6,722 cancer survivors and 86,865 with no history) and the 2011 MEPS Experiences with Cancer Survivorship Survey (1,202 cancer survivors).
