Thu, Dec 22, 2022 page2

• Fund needed for cancer costs: expert

  ‘TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE’: Some late-stage treatments are covered, but people diagnosed early would have to wait until their cancer progresses to qualify, a professor said

  • By Tung Kuan-yi and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  Experts and civil groups are calling for a national cancer fund to ease the financial burden of cancer patients as many cutting-edge treatments must be paid out of pocket due to constraints on the National Health Insurance (NHI) system.

  Although Taiwan’s acclaimed single-payer healthcare system covers most medical costs, funding limitations precludes some forms of treatment, including for conditions requiring intensive intervention such as advanced cancers.

  Of the 184,172 deaths last year, 51,656, or 28 percent, were from cancer, which has been one of the leading causes of death in Taiwan for decades, Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed.

  In 2019, the latest data available, 121,254 people received a cancer diagnosis. That is the equivalent of one diagnosis every 4 minutes and 20 seconds, and is 11 seconds faster than the year before.

  Cancer treatment is a long process that can sometimes be prohibitively expensive. Although the NHI pays for some treatment, others must be paid through an employer’s insurance or out of pocket. For those without the luxury of choice, an inferior treatment might be the only affordable one.

  The issue has in the past few years caught the attention of experts and civil groups, who have been calling for the establishment of a dedicated cancer treatment fund to ensure that the best care is accessible to all who need it.

  Chou Yiing-jenq (周穎政), a professor at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University’s Institute of Public Health, said that the cost of new lifesaving drugs has “become a nightmare” for patients and their families.

  Amid ever-tightening restrictions on medical expenditure, Chou said he is afraid that more treatments would not be covered by the NHI.

  Some late-stage cancer treatments are covered, but patients who have been diagnosed at an earlier stage must wait until their condition progresses to receive that treatment, but by then it is often “too little, too late,” he said.

  “Some cancer drugs are highly effective when administered early, but NHI funding restrictions mean that many drugs can only be used as a last resort,” he said. “Patients therefore must pay out of pocket, which is untenable for those without the financial means.”

  In a survey conducted by a cancer support organization, nearly three-quarters of patients had to pay out of pocket for at least part of their treatment.

  One-quarter of respondents with late-stage cancer had bills in excess of NT$1 million (US$32,564), Chou said.

  Compared with other advanced nations, Taiwan still has a lot of room for improvement when it comes to life expectancy and cancer survival, he said.

  Current healthcare expenditure in 2019 constituted 6.1 percent of GDP, compared with the 8.2 percent spent by South Korea and Japan’s 11 percent.

  Average life expectancy was 81.3 years in 2020, compared with 83.5 years in South Korea and 84.7 years in Japan.

  As for cancer survival rates, Taiwan is at the back of the pack among 11 other high-income countries for breast, lung and prostate cancer, according to the CONCORD Programme.

  Apart from establishing a cancer fund, Chou recommended that the government increase healthcare spending as a percentage of GDP.

  Doing so would not harm the economy as many believe, but would send a message that the nation cares for the health of its people, he said.
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