STAT+: Survival rates for cancer patients on immunotherapy depend on insurance coverage, study finds

As a cancer patient, access to innovative drugs can help extend your life — that is if you have health insurance, a new study finds.

In a JAMA Open Network study published Monday, researchers from the American Cancer Society found that the introduction of immune checkpoint inhibitors in advanced-stage cancer patients improved survival for patients across all insurance types. However, there was a significant widening of the survival gap between privately insured patients and uninsured. The two-year survival rate of privately insured patients (with melanoma) jumped from nearly 29% to 46%, whereas in uninsured patients, the survival rate increased from about 16% to just over 28%.

“If you give people good, high-quality care, people stop dying. That’s it, it’s that simple,” said Otis Brawley, an oncology professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who was not involved in the study.

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