Studies from University of Alabama Birmingham Provide New Data on Cancer (Does Health Insurance Protect Against Risk of Financial Catastrophe for Pancreatic Tumor Care? a Cost-based Review of Patients Undergoing Pancreatic Resection At an …)

2021 JUL 23 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Health Policy and Law Daily -- New research on Cancer is the subject of a report. According to news reporting originating in Birmingham, Alabama, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of financial insolvency and cancer related deaths in the United States. The risk of catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) was calculated for patients undergoing pancreatic resection at an academic institution.”

Financial support for this research came from Robert E. Reed Gastrointestinal Oncology Research Foundation.

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of Alabama Birmingham, “Patients who underwent pancreatic resection between 2013 and 2017 were identified through an institutional cancer registry. A CHE was an out-of-pocket payment (OOP) > 10% of the estimated median household income. 319 patients met inclusion criteria. Hospital median charge was $76,700. 99% of patients had insurance and hospital bill adjustments. As a result, 61% (n = 193) made no OOP. Only 3 patients risked CHE. For all tumors combined there were no differences in survival outcomes by OOP. This is the first study to use institutional financial data to calculate CHE risk for pancreatic resection patients.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Insurance adjustments to hospital charges that accompany health insurance and voluntary hospital adjustments for the uninsured protect patients against CHE.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Does Health Insurance Protect Against Risk of Financial Catastrophe for Pancreatic Tumor Care? a Cost-based Review of Patients Undergoing Pancreatic Resection At an Academic Institution. The American Journal of Surgery, 2021;222(1):139-144. The American Journal of Surgery can be contacted at: Excerpta Medica Inc-elsevier Science Inc, 685 Route 202-206 Ste 3, Bridgewater, NJ 08807, USA.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Sushanth Reddy, University of Alabama Birmingham, Dept. of Surgery, 1808 7TH Ave S, Birmingham, AL 35294, United States. Additional authors for this research include Juliet S. Okoroh, Martin J. Heslin, Selwyn M. Vickers, Thomas N. Wang, J. Bart Rose and Lauren Weaver.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjsurg.2020.11.040. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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