Some Oncologists Look For New Ways To Profit From Cancer Treatments, New York Times Reports

The New York Times on Tuesday examined how limits placed on profits that physicians can make on cancer drugs have left some oncologists "searching for new income," such as by "performing additional treatments that" have "the best reimbursements, whether or not the treatments" benefit the patients. Medicare until 2005 paid a markup of 20% to 100% for many cancer drugs, along with injectable treatments for arthritis and other diseases.

In 2005, Congress changed the reimbursement system to pay physicians 6% more than the average price for a given treatment. The reduction in reimbursements "did not reduce overall federal spending on cancer care," which has increased slightly in the last two years, and the difference in spending "mostly represented profit that doctors had made on the drugs," the Times reports. However, cancer doctors say the "change did nothing to reduce a larger problem in cancer treatment," according to the Times.

The decrease in payments has made it difficult for smaller practices to break even on cancer drug purchases because the practices often do not buy enough of any drug to receive rebates or discounts from drug manufacturers. Some oncologists have attempted to increase profits by "performing chemotherapy more often or installing multimillion-dollar imaging machines where they profit when their patients receive diagnostic scans" and by "putting new pressure on cancer patients to make out-of-pocket drug copayments," according to the Times.

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