Health literacy in the United States is low to begin with, and health financial literacy is even lower. The changing health insurance system is partly to blame. A few decades ago, health insurance covered everything. Now, patients have a lot more financial responsibility, and they don’t always understand it. In cancer, health financial literacy is particularly important since treatment can be so costly.

This episode of Managed Care Cast includes conversations with a few experts in the field: Yousuf Zafar, MD, MHS, of the Duke Cancer Institute; Clara Lambert, BBA, OPN-CG, chair of the Association of Community Cancer Centers Financial Advocacy Network Advisory Committee; Todd Yezefski, MD, senior fellow in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Washington; and Michele McCourt, senior director of the CancerCare Co-Payment Assistance Foundation.

Read more:

A Descriptive Study of Patients Receiving Foundational Financial Assistance Through Local Specialty Pharmacies: www.ajmc.com/journals/supplement/2018/the-patient-assistance-safety-net-how-many-need-help-how-many-are-helped/a-descriptive-study-of-patients-receiving-foundational-financial-assistance-through-local-specialty-pharmacies

Impact of Trained Oncology Financial Navigators on Patient Out-of-Pocket Spending: www.ajmc.com/journals/supplement/2018/the-patient-assistance-safety-net-how-many-need-help-how-many-are-helped/impact-of-trained-oncology-financial-navigators-on-patient-outofpocket-spending

Policy Improvement Areas to Reduce Financial Hardship: www.ajmc.com/conferences/pan-2018/policy-improvement-areas-to-reduce-financial-hardship

Addressing Financial Concerns at the Outset to Improve Patient Outcomes: www.ajmc.com/conferences/pan-2018/addressing-financial-concerns-at-the-outset-to-improve-patient-outcomes