Annual Report To The Nation On The Status Of Cancer
Part 1 of the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer was focused on national cancer statistics and it became available on July 8, 2021. Part 2, appearing October 26, 2021, in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute, is the most comprehensive examination of patient economic burden for cancer care to date and includes information on patient out-of-pocket spending by cancer site, stage of disease at diagnosis, and phase of care. While this analysis is about the costs that are directly incurred by patients, which are critical to patient finances, the total overall costs of cancer care and lost productivity in the United States are much larger. Among adults aged 65 years and older who had Medicare coverage, average annualized net out-of-pocket costs for medical services and prescription drugs, across all cancer sites, were highest in the initial phase of care, defined as the first 12 months following diagnosis ($2,200 and $243, respectively), and the end-of-life phase, defined as the 12 months before death among survivors who died ($3,823 and $448, respectively), and lowest in the continuing phase, the months between the initial and end-of-life phases ($466 and $127, respectively). Across all cancer sites, average annualized net patient out-of-pocket costs for medical services in the initial and end-of-life phases of care were lowest for patients originally diagnosed with localized disease compared with more advanced stage disease. Part 1 can be obtained here. Part 2 can be obtained here.
Prison And Jail Reentry And Health
Another section of this month’s edition of the ASAHP newsletter TRENDS discusses incarceration in the context of astrobiology. Mass imprisonment in the United States can be viewed as a public health crisis that has disproportionate negative impacts on communities of color. The reentry population, i.e., individuals released back to the community following incarceration, is sicker than the general population, faces barriers to accessing health care, and often experiences homelessness, unemployment, and a lack of social and family support. A new Health Affairs Policy Brief dives deeper into the link between community reentry and health. The authors provide an overview of research regarding the health outcomes and challenges associated with prior incarceration, a review of strategies currently used to support the health and well-being of the reentry population, and recommendations to improve health and justice outcomes. They indicate that criminal justice reform coupled with targeted upstream efforts, such as investment in criminal justice-based reentry programs; support for communities and the community health systems to which inmates return; and enhanced research evaluation of reentry programming are necessary to mitigate the negative health impacts of mass incarceration. The policy brief can be obtained here.
2020 National Survey Of Drug Use And Health
A first findings report summarizes key findings from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) for national indicators of substance use and mental health among individuals aged 12 years old or older in the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States. The findings indicate that among the group aged 12 or older in 2020, 58.7% (or 162.5 million individuals) used tobacco, alcohol, or an illicit drug in the past month (also defined as “current use”), including 50.0% (or 138.5 million) who drank alcohol, 18.7% (or 51.7 million) who used a tobacco product, and 13.5% (or 37.3 million) who used an illicit drug. Among members of the group aged 12 or older, 20.7% (or 57.3 million) used tobacco products or used an e-cigarette or other vaping device to obtain nicotine in the past month. Among adults aged 18 or older, 21.0% (or 52.9 million) had any mental illness (AMI) and 5.6% (or 14.2 million) had serious mental illness (SMI) in the past year. The report can be obtained here.