Insurers combat soaring cancer costs

Tools

Both insurers and cancer patients are seeing chemotherapy bills skyrocket, according to MedPage Today. For instance, the average monthly cost of a brand-name cancer drug has doubled over the past decade. Pennsylvania-based Highmark noticed that when hospital systems bought doctors' practices, chemo costs rose. Back in April, the insurer stopped paying the costly fees for chemo drugs that were given to patients whose doctors work at hospitals. While other insurers around the country are adopting this practice, Indianapolis-based WellPoint will start paying oncologists a bonus of $350 a month per patient if they use less expensive chemo regimes. Article