OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the burden of skin cancer among U.S. veteran patients. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with skin cancer were identified (International Classification of Disease 9th Revision Clinical Modification [ICD-9-CM] diagnosis code 232.xx) using the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Medical SAS datasets from October 1, 2009 to September 30, 2011. The first diagnosis date was defined as the index date. A comparison group of patients without skin cancer of the same age, region, gender and index year were identified and matched on baseline Charlson Comorbidity Index with a randomly chosen index date to minimize selection bias. Patients in both groups were required to be at least 18 years old and have 1 year continuous health plan enrollment pre- and post-index date. Follow-up health care costs and utilizations were compared between the two groups after using 1:1 propensity score matching adjusting baseline characteristics. RESULTS: A total of 12,504 patients were identified for the skin cancer and comparison cohorts. After 1:1 propensity score matching, each group included 4,400 patients with well-balanced baseline demographic and clinical characteristics. Patients diagnosed with skin cancer had higher percentages of inpatient (5.75% vs. 2.64%, p<0.01), emergency room (11.89% vs. 6.50%, p<0.01), physician office (99.95% vs. 66.70%, p<0.01), outpatient (99.95% vs. 67.41%, p<0.01), and pharmacy visits (91.89% vs. 71.30%, p<0.01). Patients in the skin cancer cohort also incurred higher expenditures in inpatient ($1,494 vs. $555, p<0.01), emergency room ($108 vs. $60, p<0.01), physician office ($4,486 vs. $1,480, p<0.01), outpatient ($4,780 vs. $1,639) and pharmacy visits ($707 vs. $429, p<0.01) than patients in the comparison group. CONCLUSIONS: Study results suggest that cancer patients diagnosed with skin cancer incurred significantly higher costs and health care resources compared to patients without.