Medical Debt and Advanced Cancer Stage at Diagnosis
JAMA Network Open 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.37508October 01, 2026 at 11:00 AM EDT
In this cross-sectional study of US counties, higher medical debt burden was associated with higher incidence rates of late-stage and overall cancer across multiple cancer types. These findings suggest that medical debt may reflect structural and financial barriers associated with cancer diagnosis and outcomes at the population level.
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