Cancer Costs Driving Patients to Bankruptcy.

• Position: DIAGNOSTICS & TREATMENT

The high cost of diagnosing and treating cancer--as well as the prescription drugs and therapies associated with the disease--are bankrupting many patients who cannot afford the expensive deductibles, copays, and increasing monthly premiums.

Paul J. Crowe, CEO of NuView Life Sciences, Park City, Utah, points to these numbers:

* $150,000,000,000-cancer costs for 2020.

* 70% or more--percentage of the monthly income of the American worker that is expected to go to out-of-pocket expenses for cancer treatment.

* $3,600--average monthly gross pay in the U.S.

* $20,000--average out-of-pocket expenses spent on cancer treatment as reported by 20% of cancer patients.

* $150 to $10,000--range in cost for a biopsy; the former for a simple skin biopsy, the...