For four years running, cancer has been the No. 1 cost driver in employer healthcare spending, according to a 2025 survey by the Business Group on Health. The total cost is expected to reach $246 billion by 2030. Another 2025 report, from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP), found that 86 percent of U.S. employers saw increased oncology costs over the previous year.
Cancer care isn’t just costly, it’s sometimes poorly coordinated. Too often, patients find it difficult to access the comprehensive care they need. At the same time, employers seeking to support their employees through this journey can find that effort to be a logistical burden for both sides.
“Employers are struggling with care fragmentation across point solutions in the digital health space,” says Alex Owens, Director of Clinical Strategy at Teladoc Health. “Without cohesive support, it’s quite a challenge for both employees and the organizations for which they work.”
The IFEBP report revealed that more employers are partnering with virtual care vendors as part of their solution to address the spikes in cancer care costs. Many of these employers are also recognizing the power of virtual care, when incorporated into an integrated employee wellness benefits program, to strengthen their support for cancer prevention, treatment and recovery.
Prioritizing prevention and early detection
As a medical doctor and public health expert, Owens says having a dual focus on the health of individual patients and the population at large allows him and his team at Teladoc Health to design programs that are both clinically rigorous and scalable.
Noting that employees often delay cancer screenings, he emphasizes the importance of prevention and early detection in helping employers control the costs associated with cancer care and give employees a better chance at successful treatment.
“When screenings are missed and cancers are detected at a later stage, the treatment burden is much heavier,” Owens says. “The costs associated with those treatments are much higher, whether that’s in terms of direct medical spend or indirect costs like productivity loss.”
Owens points to Teladoc Health’s virtual primary care solution, Primary360, as a program its clients use to encourage employees to make cancer-preventing lifestyle changes and get timely cancer screenings.
Less fragmented care
When an employee receives a cancer diagnosis, the news is undoubtedly distressing. The stress is compounded when getting care involves entering an uncoordinated maze of medical specialists, diagnostic procedures and treatment sessions, along with visits to a primary care provider.
As Owens notes, when those entities don’t share information, patients face the emotionally exhausting task of repeating their medical history and symptoms at every point of care. Add to that the physical stress of treatments, the administrative hassle of navigating appointments, and the financial stress of keeping up with out-of-pocket medical costs and household bills. It all adds up to a situation that illuminates the critical need for an integrated system of care.
“Coordinated support that integrates the clinical aspects, mental health, emotional needs and financial guidance can help people to stay engaged in their care,” Owens says. “It also can help them return to work sooner and healthier and in a better headspace.”
Quality care accessible to all
One way that Teladoc Health has expanded access to quality care for its members is by working with Connected Care Partners such as Carrum Health. Carrum offers employers a first-of-its-kind, value-based Centers of Excellence (COE) network for cancer care, connecting members to 650+ high-quality cancer care providers across the country.
What makes this model different: Carrum’s COEs are held accountable for patient outcomes and take on financial risk under value-based contracts. This structure incentivizes them to provide the most appropriate care, instead of simply more care.
“It encourages them to use evidence-based protocols, focus on the most appropriate care, deliver strong care coordination, track the outcomes rigorously and deliver care more efficiently,” explains Brent Nicholson, co-founder and Chief Growth Officer at Carrum Health.
The all-inclusive payment covers full-spectrum treatment along with wraparound support, including integrated medical care, nutrition, mental health services, caregiver resources and survivorship programs. Carrum coordinates ongoing care between its program and Teladoc Health’s care teams to ensure a seamless member experience.
“For employers, the real challenge isn’t just finding quality cancer care. It’s connecting the dots between primary care, chronic condition management, and high-cost specialty treatment,” says Nicholson. “That’s where most benefits programs fall short. Our partnership with Teladoc Health solves this by creating a single, coordinated pathway. Members get referred into the right specialists at the right time, with contracts that align incentives around outcomes and value. For HR leaders managing multiple point solutions that don’t talk to each other, this integration delivers what they’ve been asking for: a seamless member experience and measurable cost savings in specialty care, where the biggest dollars are at stake.”
Choosing a virtual care vendor
The breadth and depth of the provider network should be a key consideration for employers when selecting a vendor partner that can support cancer care, Owens notes. The network should include the full spectrum of oncology specialists and the facilities to screen for, diagnose and treat all types of cancer.
Other important features include guaranteed access for all members across geographic locations, culturally competent communication, easy navigation of supportive services and the ability to track employee engagement.
At Teladoc Health, integration with their Connected Care Partners is just one example of how they are orchestrating care to help make employee wellness benefits more accessible and improve health outcomes.
“We focus on how we bring the best evidence-based medicine to design care programs and pathways for our members,” Owens says. “That includes collaboration across our Connected Care Partners, with a focus on closing gaps in care and improving access to specialty care, including oncology.”