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Editor’s note: This is part of a monthlong series on the battle against cancer in Butler County.
By Tiffany Latta
Staff Writer
HAMILTON — The mother of three didn’t have to worry about medical bills during her 10-year battle with ovarian cancer.
Her husband’s health insurance picked up the tab, including the $251,000 in bills Maureen L. Fritsch amassed the last 11 months of her life before her death in November 2002.
“We were fortunate,’’ said Tom Fritsch, 69, of Hamilton who retired from UPS. “We paid maybe $300 (in out of pocket expenses).’’
Tammy Witt, 42, formerly of Hamilton and Middletown, wasn’t so lucky.
When Witt was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in April 2006, she learned the company she worked for at the time had changed owners and insurance carriers, leaving her with a $2,500 benefits limit.
The benefits cap was no match for the more than $60,000 in bills she incurred undergoing left and right mastectomies, reconstructive surgery, eight months of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation.
The bills forced the mother of two to sell her car, refinance her home, then file bankruptcy.
“I was just trying to stay alive. I didn’t realize that everything wasn’t covered. I didn’t realize it until the bills started coming in,’’ Witt said.
A report released earlier this year by the American Cancer Society and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that even cancer patients like Witt who have health insurance struggle to pay for treatment. Caps on benefits, lifetime maximums, high out-of-pocket expenses, and delayed application to medical assistance programs contribute to financial woes and lead many to file bankruptcy, the study found.
The cost of cancer care is rising dramatically, about 15 percent a year, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
Discussing the costs of care with patients has become a real issue for doctors, said Dr. Lowell Schnipper, chair of ASCO’s Cost of Care Task Force formed in late 2007.
“Some doctors feel talking about finances with their patients is immoral and not the proper thing to do,’’ Schnipper said. “Our job is to make the best diagnosis and offer the best treatment options. ... But by alerting patients and care takers of the potential financial impact, patients and their families can take advantage of resources that can help with some of the uncovered bills.’’
New biotechnology drugs can cost $10,000 or more for a round of treatment. Pharmaceutical companies say the drugs costs billions to research, develop and market. And companies have a limited amount of time when they have a patent on the drugs and can recoup their investment, Schnipper said.
Area oncologists say discussing the cost of care is uncomfortable, but necessary.
Dr. Ed Crane, an oncologist at Oncology Hematology Care who treats patients in Greater Cincinnati, said although an employee with the medical group helps patients facing financial issues, he also talks with patients directly about the expense of care.
“I care about the overall burden of the treatment of the cancer on the patient: physically, emotionally and, unfortunately for some, financially,’’ Crane said.
Schnipper said if doctors discover patients cannot afford the more expensive drugs then they can offer them older, more affordable medicine.
But often patients fighting for their lives are desperate and seek expensive therapies that only extend their lives for a couple months, if not weeks.
“Only a few of them (new drugs) have been responsible for marked improvement for certain cancers,’’ said Schnipper, citing the success of Herceptin at reducing recurrence in breast cancer and Gleevec, a pill that treats a rare form of leukemia.
“Some patients will do anything to eke out a few extra days or weeks, and patients are going bankrupt because of it.’’
Witt said the health care system should work for people who are sick.
“It was devastating what I went through financially, emotionally, physically,’’ Witt said. “People shouldn’t have to worry about medical bills when you’re going through cancer or any disease, especially if you have insurance.’’
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2180 or tlatta@coxohio.com.
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