Affordable Cancer Care? How Drug Costs Deepen Survival Gaps

FRIDAY, July 11, 2025 (https://positivibemind.com/news) — A study released online on July 7 indicates that the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) led to an increased gap in survival rates between individuals who have private insurance and those without any health coverage. JAMA Network Open .

Jingxuan Zhao, Ph.D., M.P.H., affiliated with the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, along with other researchers carried out a cross-sectional analysis focusing on adults diagnosed with stage IV melanoma (12,048 cases), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC; 152,610 cases), or kidney cancer (18,782 cases). These patients were identified both prior to and following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s authorization of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The research utilized a six-group propensity score-adjusted difference-in-differences (DID) method to assess variations in survival rates before and after ICI approval between people without coverage or enrolled in Medicaid compared to those with private health insurance across each specific cancer category.

Researchers discovered that following the approval of ICI treatments, two-year overall survival rates improved for patients diagnosed with melanoma. Among those who lacked insurance, the rate rose from 16.2% to 28.3%, whereas for individuals with private health coverage, it went up from 28.7% to 46.0%. After accounting for social and demographic factors, this led to an expanded gap of 6.1 percentage points. For individuals diagnosed with NSCLC, the difference in survival outcomes between those without insurance and those with private insurance grew by 1.3 percentage points. However, there was no notable change in survival disparities between those covered by Medicaid and those with private insurance when ICIs became available.

"Extending Medicaid eligibility to those who lack health insurance could enhance their ability to obtain advanced cancer therapies, which can be expensive like immunotherapy drugs," Zhao stated in a release.

An author revealed connections with Pfizer and PRIME Education.

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