TY - JOUR
T1 - Burden Associated With Selecting and Using Health Insurance to Manage Care Costs
T2 - Results of a Qualitative Study of Nonelderly Cancer Survivors
AU - George, Nerissa
AU - Grant, Rachel
AU - James, Aimee
AU - Mir, Nageen
AU - Politi, Mary C.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the American Cancer Society (RSGI CPHPS—130798; PI: MC Politi). The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the positions of the American Cancer Society.
Funding Information:
We would like to thank Abigail Barker, PhD, Timothy McBride, PhD, and Kenneth Carson, MD, PhD, for their input during the study. The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the American Cancer Society (RSGI CPHPS?130798; PI: MC Politi). The contents of this article are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the positions of the American Cancer Society.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2018.
PY - 2021/2
Y1 - 2021/2
N2 - This qualitative study explored cancer survivors’ experiences selecting and using health insurance and anticipating out-of-pocket care costs. Thirty individuals participated in semistructured interviews. On average, participants were 54 years (SD ± 8.85, range 34-80) and diagnosed with cancer about 5 years prior (range 0.5-10 years). About 57% were female, 77% were non-Hispanic White, and 53% had less than a college education. Participants struggled to access information about health insurance and costs. Lack of cost transparency made it difficult to anticipate expenses and increased anxiety. Many participants were surprised that after cancer, care that was once preventive with no out-of-pocket costs became diagnostic with associated fees. They discussed the cognitive burden of managing finances on top of treatment and overseeing communication between doctors and insurance. Interventions are needed to clearly communicate information about insurance coverage and care costs to improve cancer survivors’ confidence in selecting health insurance and anticipating out-of-pocket expenses.
AB - This qualitative study explored cancer survivors’ experiences selecting and using health insurance and anticipating out-of-pocket care costs. Thirty individuals participated in semistructured interviews. On average, participants were 54 years (SD ± 8.85, range 34-80) and diagnosed with cancer about 5 years prior (range 0.5-10 years). About 57% were female, 77% were non-Hispanic White, and 53% had less than a college education. Participants struggled to access information about health insurance and costs. Lack of cost transparency made it difficult to anticipate expenses and increased anxiety. Many participants were surprised that after cancer, care that was once preventive with no out-of-pocket costs became diagnostic with associated fees. They discussed the cognitive burden of managing finances on top of treatment and overseeing communication between doctors and insurance. Interventions are needed to clearly communicate information about insurance coverage and care costs to improve cancer survivors’ confidence in selecting health insurance and anticipating out-of-pocket expenses.
KW - cancer survivors
KW - cost transparency
KW - decision support
KW - health insurance
KW - qualitative research
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85059587019&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1077558718820232
DO - 10.1177/1077558718820232
M3 - Article
C2 - 30569838
AN - SCOPUS:85059587019
SN - 1077-5587
VL - 78
SP - 48
EP - 56
JO - Medical Care Research and Review
JF - Medical Care Research and Review
IS - 1
ER -