Out-of-pocket costs for diagnostic testing following abnormal prostate cancer screening among privately insured men

Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy among men and following a positive prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening test, patients may undergo more expensive diagnostic testing. However, testing-related out-of-pocket costs (OOPCs), which may preclude patients from completing the screening process, have not been previously quantified. OOPCs for follow-up diagnostic testing (i.e., prostate biopsy and/or magnetic resonance imaging [MRI]) in patients with private insurance undergoing prostate cancer screening were estimated.

Men ages 55 to 69 years old who underwent PSA-based prostate cancer screening from 2010 to 2020 from the IBM Marketscan database were identified. The number of patients undergoing follow-up diagnostic testing within 12 months of screening was tabulated, dividing patients into three groups: (1) biopsy only, (2) MRI only, and (3) MRI + biopsy. Over the study period, patients with nonzero cost-sharing and calculated inflation-adjusted OOPCs, adding copayment, coinsurance, and deductible payments, for each group were identified.

Among screened patients (n = 3,075,841) from 2010 through 2020, 91,850 had a second PSA test and an elevated PSA level, of which 40,329 (43.9%) underwent subsequent diagnostic testing. More than 75% of these patients experienced cost-sharing, and median OOPCs rose substantially over the study period for patients undergoing biopsy only ($79 to $214), MRI only ($81 to $490), and MRI and biopsy ($353 to $620).

OOPCs from diagnostic testing after prostate cancer screening are common and rising. This work aligns with the recent position statement from the American Cancer Society, that payers should eliminate cost-sharing, which may undermine the screening process, for diagnostic testing following cancer screening.