National Trends in Healthcare Expenditures for the Management of Skin Cancer in the United States

Background: Malignant melanoma and keratinocyte carcinomas account for a substantial proportion of healthcare expenditures in the United States. Objective: To estimate trends in the economic burden of skin cancer in the United States between 1996 and 2016. Methods: The Disease Expenditure Project and Global Burden of Disease databases were used to estimate annual total costs and population-standardized rates of change for skin cancer-related healthcare spending. Results: Skin cancer expenditures totaled $23.4 billion in 2016, of which $1.4 billion (95% CI: $1.3-$1.6 billion) was melanoma-related and $22 billion (95% CI: $18-$28 billion) was keratinocyte carcinoma-related. Most spending on skin cancer management occurred in ambulatory care settings [60.7% (95% CI: 57.7%-64.3%) for melanoma and 87.8% (95% CI: 87.2%-88.2%) for keratinocyte carcinoma]. Pharmaceutical costs for melanoma have increased since 2010 to $365 million (95% CI: $327-$416 million), which represents 26.1% (95% CI: 22.6%-29.3%) of total melanoma expenditure. Conclusions: Skin cancer management in the United States is costly. Expenditures have increased substantially since 1996 without signs of plateauing in recent years.