The U.S. spent an estimated $43 billion on screenings for five types of cancers in 2021, according to a new study published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
In a retrospective study, researchers combined data from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey that showed how many Americans reported obtaining a screening, along with the average payment for each test made by private insurance and government programs.
The analysis found that in 2021, the total health cost for screenings for breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, and prostate cancers reached $43 billion.
About 88% of the costs were paid by private insurance plans, with the rest being paid by government programs and people who are uninsured.
Screenings for colorectal cancer represented the largest share of the costs at 64%; colonoscopies alone accounted for 55% of total costs.
Researchers noted that their figure is likely an underestimate of actual costs, since their analysis is based self-reported data.
The study raised questions among experts on how effective this level of spending on screenings is at actually preventing and treating cancer.
Dr. H. Gilbert Welch, a senior researcher in the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, wrote in an editorial that accompanied the study that “questions remain about the value of the expenditure.”
He added: “Resources devoted to cancer screening would be better directed toward ensuring widespread access to effective cancer treatment. And addressing the social determinants of cancer risk — smoking, obesity, poverty, and unhealthy living conditions — would reduce death from multiple causes, not just cancer.”
Others made the case that screenings lead to further savings in the long term.
“While colonoscopy does have high costs at the time of screening, it can result in significant cost-saving downstream since colorectal cancer has the second-highest treatment cost of any cancer,” the American Gastroenterological Association said, in a statement about the study.