Older Adults With Melanoma Incur Significant Costs

(Medical News Today) Treating melanoma in older adults is estimated to cost approximately $249 million annually. Anne M. Seidler, M.D., M.B.A., Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, and colleagues used national databases to assess health care resource consumption by a total of 1,858 patients age 65 and older with melanoma during fiscal years 1991 to 1996.

Melanoma-related charges for older patients totaled an estimated $2,200 per month during the first four months of treatment, close to $4,000 monthly during the last six months and about $900 per month in the interim phase. Per patient, lifetime disease-related costs totaled up to $28,210 from the time of diagnosis to the time of death.

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