OBJECTIVES:

Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) is most common cancer in the U.S. and many patients progress to chronic stage. However, limited information exists on the cost of NMSC treatments. This study aims to estimate the average cost of NMSC among Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) patients using longitudinal data from 2010 to 2020.

METHODS:

The study included beneficiaries newly diagnosed with NMSC in 2010. We classified services received by NMSC patients into several treatment modalities. We estimated total costs for a patient over the disease period and re-priced the costs of used services using the 2020 Medical Consumer Price Index to standardize price changes across time. We calculated average costs of care by each treatment modality and by each setting on both per month and per year basis.

RESULTS:

We found a nationalized estimate of 1.2 million Medicare beneficiaries with NMSC in 2010. In the first year of treatment, the total cost of NMSC care was $1.8 billion. Majority of NMSC patients received services in physicians’ offices with an average cost of $1,300 in their first year of treatment, while the average spending in outpatient and inpatient settings were $1,100 and $13,000, respectively. Although the number of patients who received NMSC treatment dropped by 7% to 11% during later follow-up years, changes in the average cost of care were not significant. Radiation oncology, Mohs surgery, and skin replacement accounted for the greatest percentage of money spent to treat NMSC in the first year of follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS:

As NMSC was managed primarily in office-based settings, the cost of NMSC treatment was relatively low compared to other cancers. Our study was limited to Medicare FFS beneficiaries; thus, future research examining other insurance types is needed to generate a comprehensive analysis of NMSC spending.