Medical Debt in Collections Persists After Cancer Diagnosis

TUESDAY, Sept. 2, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Modest amounts of medical debt in collections persist for years after cancer diagnosis, according to a study published online Aug. 28 in JAMA Oncology.

Nishant Uppal, M.D., from the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues examined longitudinal changes in adverse financial outcomes for nearly all individuals diagnosed with cancer in Massachusetts during 2010 to 2019 versus a control population from Massachusetts. Individuals with cancer were matched to controls based on baseline demographic and socioeconomic factors; the matched difference-in-differences analysis included 74,146 individuals with a cancer diagnosis and 74,146 controls.

The researchers found that at six years after diagnosis, there were increases in mean medical debt in collections of $15.45 in a matched difference-in-differences analysis. No changes were seen in mean total debt, total debt in collections, number of bankruptcies, or credit scores after diagnosis. Patients with colorectal cancer experienced an increase in mean total debt in collections of $155.55 and those with bladder cancer experienced an increase in mean total debt in collections of $375.77 at 6.0 and 5.5 years after diagnosis, respectively.

“These results demonstrate the importance of considering financial factors at the time of cancer diagnosis and highlight the need for financial assistance programs that prevent medical debt, which has been associated with diminished access to care and is a focus of public and private debt forgiveness programs,” the author write.

One author received support from BrightEdge.

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