Half of cancer patients report medical debt

By the numbers: The poll of more than 1,2o0 cancer patients conducted between Feb. 9 and 23 found a majority of patients and survivors said they were unprepared for the costs of their care.

• In order to afford their care, 28% of respondents said they'd gone into credit card debt and 20% had borrowed money from relatives and friends.
• More than one in 10 took out another type of loan, like borrowing from a payday lender or refinancing their homes.
• About half of patients said they incurred cancer-related medical debt. Of those, about half reported it had gone to collections and hurt their credit.