The Cost of Breast Cancer in California
Creators: name: University Of California Office Of The President
Publisher: name: University of California Office of the President
publisherIdentifier: https://ror.org/00dmfq477
publisherIdentifierScheme: ROR
Year: 2024

description: Breast cancer is a disease that affects a large number of women of all ages, from young mothers to retired grandmothers. The resulting economic burden of the disease is huge, and includes dollars spent to diagnose and treat women, the value of time lost from productive activities by those living with the disease, and the value of the lives lost prematurely. Estimates of the cost of the illness have proven to be valuable for decision makers in comparing alternative treatments and service delivery systems, determining what groups of people should be targeted to receive improved access to care, and determining program budgets. Advocates have found the estimates helpful in persuading others to focus on this costly disease. However, current estimates of the cost of breast cancer in California are unavailable at the state level. This study will develop estimates of these costs using econometric models and approaches that utilize the best available data.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 This project will provide several measures of the economic cost of breast cancer in California. Annual costs will include dollars spent on health care services, the value of lost productivity resulting from time lost for those living with cancer, and the value of lost productivity resulting from premature death from the disease. We will also estimate the lifetime cost of breast cancer over the course of the disease for older women on Medicare and look at how it varies by age and stage at diagnosis and by the type of treatment initially received. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 We will estimate the cost of breast cancer using large datasets available from the state and federal government. Annual health care costs will be estimated by adding up the dollars spent for women with a primary diagnosis of breast cancer. We will also include the additional costs for women with other diagnoses but who have a secondary diagnosis of breast cancer. Hospital costs can be estimated in considerable detail, and the other types of costs are built upon these. Lost productivity costs will be estimated by valuing the time lost as a result of breast cancer at market wages and an imputed value for household production. Lifetime costs are estimated by comparing the total lifetime Medicare expenditures for women with and without breast cancer assuming they are the same in every other way. The difference between these costs is the lifetime cost of breast cancer.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 The project will provide the first detailed estimates of the cost of breast cancer at the state level that have been made in over 17 years. Annual cost estimates will be available by age and race/ethnicity, allowing for comparisons among various subgroups of the population. The study will also provide California-specific estimates of lifetime costs of the disease, with separate estimates for women who receive different initial treatments. These data will permit policymakers and advocates to provide economic input to a number of activities and programs that focus on breast cancer.