https://www.webmd.com/health-insurance/news/20191101/many-cancer-docs-dont-discuss-costs-of-pricey-gene-tests?src=rss_public
Genomic tests ran on people who
have cancer can really define the best tests and treatments that these patients
should undergo. These tests are very expensive and many of them are not covered
by insurance companies. In this post, data was collected from over a thousand
oncologists about how to go about testing these patients should get for the
best interest of themselves but their pockets as well. Over fifty percent of
doctors go over costs with their patients so they are aware, but over twenty
five percent do not. I understand why the cost might not be brought up because any
amount of money is less important than the cost of your life, and if they test
were to save your life who cares how much money it would cost. Cancer
treatment costs are rising and so are the genomic testing prices, it’s a real
shame innocent people have to go through this. As if having cancer was not
enough, the medical bills start to pile up.
The topic of genomic testing for cancer patients hits close to home due to my sister having to get her genetics ran this past January when she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. This journey was hard and long, but the doctors were brilliant, and the doctors told her to obtain this testing to see if she had the genes breast cancer codes for or was this just an environmental cause. This process could become very frustrating because there are no answers to why someone has cancer, and having a test done costing so much money is a waste of money that these people do not have to spare.
I'm so sorry to hear about your sister. It really is a shame how expensive treatments and tests are getting, but the fact that medical research is only increasing will lead to everything becoming much more expensive. Regardless of a patient's treatment, a doctor should always be required to go over the costs of everything with the patient so that person can be fully aware. Maybe in the future, insurance companies will begin to cover more, when the time is really needed.
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