Pancreas cancer inpatient medical care costs increase by 96.6%
[Newsmp] The number of cancer patients hospitalized has increased sharply this year, as the COVID-19 pandemic has subsided.
Cancer hospitalization and treatment cases in South Korea have surged by 25.0% in the first three quarters of this year, reaching 422,518, according to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA).
Driven by the rise in cancer hospitalizations, medical care costs surged 41.1% to KRW 4.732 trillion in the first three quarters, or about KRW 1.4 trillion more compared to last year.
Breast cancer and lung cancer were the two most common types of cancer hospitalization cases, with 46,239 and 46,162 cases, respectively.
Following this, stomach cancer has surpassed 30,000 cases at 36,110, thyroid cancer at 34,732, and liver and bile duct cancer at 31,987.
Colon cancer (23,781 cases) and prostate cancer (21,214 cases) both surpassed the 20,000 mark, followed by pancreatic cancer (14,984 cases), rectal cancer (14,928 cases), and bladder cancer (12,999 cases).
Compared to the same period last year, thyroid cancer increased by 34.5%, lung cancer by 30.7%, stomach cancer by 29.1%, breast cancer by 26.8%, and prostate cancer by 26.0%, all exceeding the average. Pancreatic cancer followed with a 23.1% increase, rectal cancer with 22.8%, colon cancer with 20.2%, liver and bile duct cancer with 18.3%, and bladder cancer with 12.0%.
The cost of medical care for hospitalized cancer patients was highest for lung cancer, at KRW 532.8 billion, followed by breast cancer (KRW 435.4 billion), liver and bile duct cancer (KRW 387.1 billion), stomach cancer (KRW 346.1 billion), colon cancer (KRW 290.6 billion), pancreatic cancer (KRW 230.6 billion), rectal cancer (KRW 157.6 billion), thyroid cancer (KRW 148.5 billion), and prostate cancer (KRW 102.9 billion).
Inpatient medical insurance costs for pancreas cancer increased by 96.6% compared to the same period last year, almost doubling. Lung cancer, breast cancer, and liver and bile duct cancer also increased by more than 40%, with increases of 49.7%, 44.7%, and 40.7%, respectively.
Moreover, stomach (38.8%), thyroid (36.5%), colon (31.4%), prostate (25.55%), and bladder (22.7%) cancers saw substantial leaps in inpatient care costs. Rectal cancer's costs remained relatively flat at 2.9%.
