Cost of Care for Breast Cancer Difficult to Pin Down

October is breast cancer awareness month and a new report from the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill has revealed just how hard it can be to pin down the cost of care for this disease.

Asbury Park Press reported that the average cost of care for breast cancer in women 65 years and older is $23,076 just for initial treatment, plus $2207 for continuing treatment. The problem is that while the Affordable Care Act has ensured mammograms are covered by health insurance plans for free, consumers instead now face higher out-of-pocket costs for health insurance coverage in general.

The study from UNC determined that the cost of care can vary greatly depending on what type of insurance patients have or if they have no insurance at all. Uninsured individuals pay $129 to $391 for a doctors visit compared with $65 to $246 for insured patients, and the costs for treatments are also more expensive for uninsured patients.

Read the full story from Asbury Park Press: http://on.app.com/1QTh0AB