Less financial burden for cancer patients with paid sick leave, study finds

Cancer can cause an enormous financial burden for some patients. Now a new study finds the burden is worse for patients without paid sick leave. In a survey of more than 1,300 patients with stage 3 colorectal cancer, researchers found that only 55 percent who were employed at the time of diagnosis retained their jobs after treatment. Patients who had paid sick leave were nearly twice as likely to retain their jobs as those without paid sick leave. “Financial burden happens in a lot of different ways,” says study author and IHPI member Christine Veenstra. “There are costs we can measure, like how much patients pay for prescriptions or doctor visits. Then there are unmeasured costs of cancer care: Did the patient take unpaid time off from work and lose paychecks? Or worse, were they unable to return to work after cancer treatment,” she says.