People diagnosed with advanced colon cancer pay twice more per month for treatment in the United States than in Canada, but do not live any longer, researchers said on Friday. Canadian residents of British Columbia paid an average of $6,195 per month, compared to patients in the northwestern US state of Washington who paid $12,345, said the study released at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in Chicago.
The two regions are about 700 miles (1,100 kilometers) apart, have similar income levels, and a racial makeup that is mainly white with a significant Asian minority. Canada has a single payer heath system, while the United States has a mix of private insurance and government-funded health insurance. "To our knowledge, this is the first study to directly compare treatment cost and use, along with health outcomes, in two similar populations treated in different health care models," said lead author Todd Yezefski, a senior fellow at the Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Washington.
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