Estimated U.S. Annual Cost of Initial Cancer Screening $43 Billion in 2021

MONDAY, Aug. 5, 2024 (HealthDay News) — In 2021, the estimated total health care costs for initial cancer screening were $43 billion in the United States, according to a study published online Aug. 6 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Michael T. Halpern, M.D., Ph.D., from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues estimated the annual cost of initial cancer screening in the United States in 2021 using national health care survey and cost resources data.

The researchers found that in 2021, total health care costs for initial cancer screenings were estimated at $43 billion in the United States. Of the costs, about 88.3, 8.5, and 3.2 percent were attributed to private insurance; Medicare; and Medicaid, other government programs, and uninsured persons, respectively. Colorectal cancer screening represented about 64 percent of the total cost; screening colonoscopy represented more than half of the total (55 percent). Major drivers of the total estimated costs of screening were facility costs (amounts paid to the facilities where testing occurred).

“This study provides previously unavailable estimates for the annual medical care cost of cancer screening in the United States,” the authors write. “Identification of these costs and the drivers for cancer screening costs are critical to help inform policy and develop programmatic priorities, particularly for enhancing access to recommended cancer screening services.”

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