by Jeff Sovern
A number of sources have reported on a survey of more than one thousand metastatic breast cancer patients presented recently at an American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) symposium that found that debt collectors had contacted about half about cancer care bills. HCP said that 49% had heard from debt collectors while AccountRecovery.net put the percentage at 54. It's unclear how representative the sample is; according to HSN:
All of the patients who participated were members of the Metastatic Breast Cancer Network advocacy organization. They responded to an email invitation to take the 20-minute online survey. Respondents received a $10 Amazon gift card.
The figures probably say more about the state of health insurance in this country than debt collection. Nearly all of those surveyed who lacked insurance said they had foregone medical care because of cost.
