Letter: Bill supports biomarker testing
This letter originally ran in the Lincoln Journal Star.
News
10,000 Lack Health Insurance When Diagnosed with Cancer
March 26, 2012
American Cancer Society Releases Numbers of Uninsured Cancer Cases By County, Showing Need for Health Insurance Exchange
Albany, NY (March 26, 2012) - According to an American Cancer Society analysis, 10,000 New Yorkers every year who find they have cancer lack public or private insurance at the time of their diagnosis. The analysis includes the approximate number of uninsured new cancer cases per county (see chart below). More than 100,000 New Yorkers were diagnosed with cancer last year.
A health insurance exchange would provide access to the health coverage those patients need to increase their odds of surviving cancer and avoiding financial ruin. The exchange is the entity that individuals not covered by employer plans and small businesses will use to obtain affordable coverage. Federal law requires the exchange to be operational on 1/1/14. Gov. Cuomo included the exchange in his Executive Budget and the Assembly did the same in their budget plan. The Senate’s budget proposal did not include the exchange.
“What will Senate leadership say to uninsured cancer patients if they block the only real hope for health insurance coverage for those survivors?” said Blair Horner, Vice President for Advocacy, American Cancer Society of NY & NJ. “For people with chronic illnesses, like cancer, the lack of health insurance can be catastrophic – both physically and financially.”
In May 2011, breast cancer survivor Michele Cona of Johnson City, NY provided testimony at a hearing in Syracuse in support of a health insurance exchange:
“In that moment when I was told I had breast cancer, there was only one thing I knew for certain: I would die. At 55 I would be a statistic, an individual whose life meant nothing because I didn’t make enough money to get the care I needed. I had no insurance and no savings so there was absolutely no way I could pay for surgery, treatments and follow up. As I think about my future as a cancer survivor, and my ability to find and keep affordable and good insurance, I want you to remember that the exchange you are working to develop will give every New York resident equal access to medical care. No one should ever have to go through what I went through, and continue to go through."
In New York, 15 percent of the population does not have health insurance and that number has been growing. In 2010, the US Census reported that nearly 2.9 million New Yorkers lacked health insurance. For cancer patients, lack of insurance can mean having to choose between paying for life-saving treatments and paying for rent. Estimates are that 10 percent of cancer patients lack coverage at the time of diagnosis and that one-third of cancer survivors report losing coverage at some point after their diagnosis.
CANCER CASES BYNEW YORK COUNTY
2004 through 2008, average per year*
County Total Potential uninsured w/cancer
Albany 1708 171
Allegany 277 28
Bronx 5496 555
Broome 1235 123
Cattaraugus 488 49
Cayuga 491 49
Chautauqua 862 86
Chemung 573 57
Chenango 306 30
Clinton 448 45
Columbia 393 39
Cortland 272 27
Delaware 310 31
Dutchess 1491 150
Erie 5851 585
Essex 252 25
Franklin 277 28
Fulton 360 36
Genesee 344 34
Greene 350 35
Hamilton 41 4
Herkimer 399 40
Jefferson 574 57
Kings 10622 1062
Lewis 156 16
Livingston 353 35
Madison 409 41
Monroe 4071 407
Montgomery 330 33
Nassau 8178 818
New York 7924 792
Niagara 1381 138
Oneida 1442 144
Onondaga 2715 271
Ontario 596 60
Orange 1749 175
Orleans 231 23
Oswego 677 68
Otsego 366 37
Putnam 530 53
Queens 10000 1000
Rensselaer 965 96
Richmond 2485 249
Rockland 1583 153
Saratoga 1195 120
Schenectad 889 89
Schoharie 184 18
Schuyler 116 12
Seneca 216 22
St Lawrence 635 64
Steuben 581 58
Suffolk 8395 840
Sullivan 459 46
Tioga 302 30
Tompkins 441 44
Ulster 1060 106
Warren 451 45
Washington 386 39
Wayne 533 53
Westchester 5267 527
Wyoming 263 26
Yates 147 15
*Source: New York State Department of Health, State Cancer Registry, 2011, number of cancer cases per year based on 2004-2008. Calculations by American Cancer Society.
Numbers are estimates and for illustration only. The percentage of the population uninsured varies among counties, as will the number of uninsured cancer patients. Thorpe KE, Howard D. “Health Insurance and Spending Among Cancer Patients” Health Affairs 2003; W3; 189-198, estimated that nationwide one in ten cancer patients lack health insurance coverage at the time of diagnosis.
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About the American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society combines an unyielding passion with nearly a century of experience to save lives and end suffering from cancer. As a global grassroots force of more than three million volunteers, we fight for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. We save lives by helping people stay well by preventing cancer or detecting it early; helping people get well by being there for them during and after a cancer diagnosis; by finding cures through investment in groundbreaking discovery; and by fighting back by rallying lawmakers to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities worldwide to join the fight. As the nation’s largest non-governmental investor in cancer research, contributing more than $3.4 billion, we turn what we know about cancer into what we do. As a result, more than 11 million people in America who have had cancer and countless more who have avoided it will be celebrating birthdays this year. To learn more about us or to get help, call us any time, day or night, at 1-800-227-2345 or visit cancer.org.