Cancer's financial toll is increasing, but here are ways to mitigate it.

• In 2024, over two million Americans will receive a new cancer diagnosis for the first time.
• Medical debt is a significant financial burden for nearly half of cancer patients and survivors.
• Early cancer detection not only increases survival chances but also significantly reduces healthcare costs.

The burden of cancer affects not only patients but also their loved ones, including their employers. It's time for CEOs to take action and reduce the impact of cancer on individuals and society.

Nearly half of cancer patients and survivors reported being extremely burdened by medical debt, with many carrying a negative balance of at least $5,000 from their cancer treatment for more than one year. Additionally, 42% of people with cancer deplete their life savings within the first two years after diagnosis.

The high cost of cancer treatment can lead to financial toxicity, where individuals must make tradeoffs that affect their chances of survival. These may include non-biologic factors such as skipping or halving cancer medications to stretch their supply or being unable to complete cancer care as planned due to the high costs of transportation or housing near cancer treatment centers. This model is not sustainable, and the rising costs of new, life-saving cancer therapies will impose additional financial toxicities, posing an increasingly large threat to patients' lives.

The financial burden of cancer care not only affects individuals but also their employers, who bear the brunt of the cost as health insurance providers for nearly half the country. In the U.S., cancer is the leading healthcare expense for mid- and large-sized organizations, and this burden is steadily increasing.

In 2024, more than 2 million Americans will receive a new cancer diagnosis, with a significant portion of these diagnoses affecting younger people. This trend is concerning, as it means that more people will be using employer-sponsored health insurance to cover their cancer treatments. As a result, employers are looking for ways to reduce the financial burden of cancer on their populations and their bottom line.

Early cancer detection benefits patients, families, and employers by improving survival rates and lowering treatment costs. On average, treatment costs for stage IV cancer are $156,000 higher than for stage I cancer. The first year of treatment for colorectal cancer, which affects over 150,000 individuals annually in the US and is on the rise in younger populations, costs an average of $111,000 when diagnosed at stage I, with a 90% five-year survival rate. In contrast, stage IV colorectal cancer drives average treatment costs of $256,000 in the first year, and five-year survival rates are under 20%. Evidence suggests that if individuals could take advantage of the prevention, early detection, and cancer treatment strategies that exist today, the cancer mortality rate would decline by 30% to 50%.

By encouraging cancer prevention and early detection, employers and individuals can improve health and reduce healthcare costs. The best tool we have today to achieve this is screening. Following recommended screening guidelines, like those published by ACS, could save the U.S. health-care system $26 billion per year in avoided treatment costs.

Although early detection and screening have proven benefits, access to preventive care remains a hindrance to better health outcomes. Currently, 65% of eligible Americans are behind on recommended cancer screenings. In 2020, Covid-19 restrictions resulted in 9.4 million cancer screenings being delayed or canceled, potentially leading to later-stage diagnoses that could have been detected earlier.

Barriers to financial toxicities include logistical and societal factors that impact a person's ability to get screened. These barriers include taking time off work or arranging childcare for a screening appointment, weighing potential future treatment costs against rent payments, lack of awareness about eligibility for screening, and stigma and fear associated with cancer screening. Inequalities based on socioeconomic status, such as access to healthcare and healthy foods, create roadblocks to preventive care. To realize the benefits of early detection, new strategies must be developed to remove these barriers.

Tackling cancer requires a multi-faceted approach, and ACS is dedicated to improving access to care and reducing financial toxicity. Employers in the U.S. can support this effort by taking similar or complementary actions.

To enhance early detection, ACS has partnered with Color Health in a joint venture to improve access to screening and preventive care through employers and unions. By simplifying and streamlining the process of getting care, the program aims to increase awareness, accessibility, and affordability of cancer screening and early detection. Notably, organizations utilizing the ACS-Color program have experienced a 77% increase in cancer screening adherence.

Programs such as Road to Recovery and ACS Hope Lodges alleviate the financial burden of transportation and lodging for cancer treatment. Through partnerships with BrightEdge, ACS's donor-funded innovation and investment arm, individuals have access to a range of solutions that simplify the financial complexities of cancer. TailorMed, a portfolio company of BrightEdge, provides a platform to help patients locate resources to cover the cost of treatment and minimize out-of-pocket expenses. Future investments aim to incorporate patient perspectives into therapy and diagnostic development, with the goal of creating sustainable cancer innovations that reduce patients' financial distress.

The Cancer Action Network of the American Cancer Society advocates for Medicaid expansion to help uninsured individuals access screening and preventive care, and has also successfully advocated for "smoothing," a policy that allows Medicare beneficiaries to spread out their prescription drug costs over the course of the year. This policy helps patients manage their payments and removes a crucial element of the cancer financial challenge.

By promoting guideline-recommended screening and making early detection affordable and accessible, employers can reduce the financial burden of cancer and improve outcomes for individuals. When employers prioritize cancer screening, they are taking a proactive step towards ending cancer and its associated costs.

Karen Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society, is also a member of the CNBC CEO Council.