They’re in Remission, but Their Medical Bills Aren’t: Cancer Survivors Navigate Soaring Costs

Nearly four years after doctors declared Marielle Santos McLeod free of colon cancer, she has yet to feel liberated from the burden of medical expenses. Are you struggling to afford your health insurance?

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McLeod, who lives near Charleston, South Carolina, is still paying off chemotherapy bills that followed her 2017 diagnosis. She also now faces an onslaught of out-of-pocket costs for follow-up monitoring and care, including regular visits to a pulmonologist and allergist.

McLeod, 45, said she had already spent $2,500 in the first two months of the year and owes an additional $1,300 from a January colonoscopy. That’s on top of the $895 monthly premium for a health insurance plan that covers her family of six.

Those costs have led McLeod to ration her other care. Despite feeling intense chest pain since February, for example, she is putting off a CT scan and a visit to a heart specialist.