Letter: Bill supports biomarker testing
This letter originally ran in the Lincoln Journal Star.
News
New Medicare Report
March 16, 2009
ACS CAN recently released a new report, Cancer and Medicare: A Chartbook . This new resource highlights Medicare information through charts to provide an overview of cancer among the elderly.
The chartbook shows how many elderly are getting cancer and dying from the disease, how many are using cancer screening services, and how much Medicare spends on cancer.
This is a great tool for looking at Medicare through the cancer lens, so our policymakers understand how cancer effects the Medicare program as they work on health care reform.
Here are some highlights from the new chartbook:
o The elderly represent only 13 percent of the population but make up about half of new cancer cases.
o Medicare pays for a major share of all costs for cancer and almost one of every ten Medicare dollars is spent on cancer.
o Medicare spends on average four times more for people with cancer than for those without cancer.
Check out the new report from ACS CAN on Medicare and cancer.