WASHINGTON – January 26, 2010 – Cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones are calling on lawmakers to redouble their efforts and take action on health care reform now, not later. To that end, the volunteer board of the American Cancer Society passed a resolution over the weekend calling on the President and all Members of Congress to work together to quickly pass legislation that improves access to quality, affordable health care for all Americans.
“Lawmakers must show leadership by putting patients before politics and finishing the job they set out to do,” said John R. Seffrin, Ph.D., chief executive officer of the Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the Society’s advocacy affiliate. “The status quo is a costly and potentially life-threatening proposition for people with cancer who must fight for the care they need while also fighting for their life.”
The resolution “requests that the President and every Democrat, Republican and Independent in the U.S. Congress work together to expeditiously enact meaningful health care reform legislation that will provide all Americans with improved access to quality, affordable care; enhanced prevention and wellness services; and improved quality of life for those who have experienced cancer.”
The Society determined in 2006 that to reach its national goal of reducing death and suffering from cancer, all Americans would need access to quality, affordable health care. That conclusion stemmed from the Society’s scientific research showing that people who are uninsured are more likely to be diagnosed with more advanced cancer and to die from the disease than those with private insurance.
In the fall of 2007, the Society and ACS CAN launched a nationwide education campaign to focus the need for reform through the eyes of cancer patients and survivors.
“Cancer patients know first-hand the gaps that exist in the current ‘sick care system’,” said Robert E. Youle, a cancer survivor and volunteer chair of ACS CAN’s Board of Directors. “If we fix the system for cancer patients and others coping with a chronic disease, we fix it for virtually anyone who will need care.”
As the leading voice of patients in the health care reform debate, ACS CAN, working to advance the mission of the Society, has worked with a broad cross-section of stakeholders to build momentum for reform nationwide. Families affected by cancer need meaningful reform that will improve health care for patients and their families by refocusing the system to emphasize prevention, ending the practice of denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions, limiting the cost burden on families by providing care that costs less and covers more, and emphasizing patients’ quality of life.
“We cannot waste this historic opportunity to make a difference in the health of every American,” said Molly A. Daniels, interim president of ACS CAN.
For more information about ACS CAN’s efforts in support of health care reform, visit https://www.fightcancer.org. For a copy of the resolution, click here.
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Alissa Havens
Phone: (202) 661-5772
Email: [email protected]
Steve Weiss
Phone: (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected]