Listen: Ezekiel Emanuel explains why cancer patients shouldn’t pay out-of-pocket costs

The high cost of cancer treatment in the U.S. is literally killing people. “Over a quarter of cancer patients delay medical care, go without care, or make changes in their cancer treatment because of cost,” Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist and co-director of the Health Care Transformation Institute at the University of Pennsylvania, wrote in a recent First Opinion essay.

But Emanuel says there’s a solution: Cancer patients shouldn’t have to pay any out-of-pocket costs for their treatment, especially in the first (and typically most expensive) year after diagnosis.

On this episode of the “First Opinion Podcast,” I spoke with Emanuel about his proposal to eliminate cost-sharing for cancer patients. He said that he normally does not embrace such carve-outs for particular illnesses, which he calls “salami slicing.” But the staggering costs of cancer — and the number of Americans who are diagnosed every year — mean that it’s not only worthwhile but necessary here. We also discussed his most recent book, “Which Country Has the World’s Best Health Care?” (Spoiler alert: There’s no single answer.)

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