Economic distress, financial toxicity, and medical cost‐coping in young adult cancer survivors during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Findings from an online sample – Thom – – Cancer
Introduction
Young adult (YA) cancer survivors, a cohort of more than 630,000 survivors aged 18 to 39 years, face financial-related hardship during and after treatment.1, 2 This hardship, often called financial toxicity, occurs at higher rates among YAs than older survivors.3, 4 The National Cancer Institute broadly defines financial toxicity as “problems a cancer patient has related to the cost of treatment.”5 In addition to the high cost of treatment, cancer-related financial issues may be caused by disruptions in employment and wages (also affecting health insurance coverage), debt related to medical expenses, and increases in cost sharing between insurers and patients.6 The prevalence of financial toxicity and associated financial hardship is high, with estimates ranging from 42% to 73% in the broader population of cancer survivors, and 90% of YA survivors reporting medically-related…