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House Health Care Reform Legislation Would Dramatically Improve the Health Care System for People With Cancer
November 5, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 5, 2009 – The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) today announced its support of proposed health care legislation that will be debated this week in the U.S. House of Representatives. In a letter to House leaders, ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, said the proposed legislation has the potential to take the fight against cancer in this country to a new level.
“This legislation represents an exceptional opportunity to advance our mission of reducing suffering and death related to cancer,” said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of ACS CAN. “We have the potential to transform our nation’s health care system in a fundamental way that begins the process of making adequate and affordable health care accessible to all Americans.”
The House bill takes a number of steps to improve health care for cancer 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 covers more and costs less and emphasizing patients’ quality of life.
“If enacted, this bill could have immediate and lasting benefits for millions of people with cancer and other life-threatening chronic diseases,” said Daniel E. Smith, president of ACS CAN. “Getting a cancer diagnosis would no longer put families at risk of being denied or getting priced out of lifesaving coverage.”
The American Cancer Society and ACS CAN believe more than 60 percent of all cancer deaths could be avoided through more effective use of existing scientific knowledge. The House bill proposes a significant investment in cancer prevention and early detection by requiring coverage for cancer screenings including mammography, colonoscopy and Pap tests, as well as for tobacco cessation programs in both public and private plans at little or no cost to patients. The bill also calls for an investment of $34 billion over five years in a new Public Health Investment Fund for community health centers, primary care training and prevention and wellness research.
The bill makes significant progress in providing adequate, affordable coverage to the uninsured and the underinsured by expanding access to Medicaid for those earning up to 150 percent of the federal poverty level, providing subsidies for the purchase of insurance to people earning up to 400 percent of poverty, reducing or eliminating cost sharing for cancer screenings and implementing insurance market reforms that eliminate annual and lifetime benefit caps and limit patient out-of-pocket expenses.
ACS CAN has not weighed in on the financing of any health care reform proposal except to support an increase in the federal tobacco tax as a way to help pay for reform and save lives. Therefore, ACS CAN takes no position on the revenue provisions of the House bill.
“As the leading voice of patients in the debate, we continue to call on Congress to put aside politics and pass health care reform that will save lives this year,” said Robert E. Youle, a cancer survivor and volunteer chair of ACS CAN’s Board of Directors. “The status quo is too costly for cancer patients, who often are forced not only to fight for their lives, but also for their life savings.”
A recent survey by National Public Radio, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and the Harvard School of Public Health found that the American Cancer Society is the most trusted among all the interest groups involved in the health care reform debate. Seventy-four percent of those surveyed said they trust the Society to recommend the right thing for the country when it comes to health care reform.
ACS CAN volunteers across the country have been holding rallies and other events to let their Members of Congress know how important health care reform is to cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones. ACS CAN volunteers have also made more than 70,000 calls to lawmakers since June, and nearly 2,000 calls a day are expected into congressional offices in coming weeks in support of meaningful health care reform.
Cancer is many different chronic and acute diseases affecting people of all ages. As such, cancer patients and survivors interact extensively with every aspect of our nation’s health care system – from prevention, diagnosis and treatment through survivorship and end of life. Armed with this knowledge and understanding, over the past two years the Society and ACS CAN have chosen to view health care through the “cancer lens” and worked to illustrate the overwhelming need for reform.
For more information about ACS CAN’s efforts in support of health care reform, visit https://www.fightcancer.org. Click here for a copy of the House letter.
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:
Steven Weiss
Phone: (202) 661-5711
E-mail: [email protected]
Alissa Havens
Phone: (202) 661-5772
Email: [email protected]
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