WASHINGTON, D.C. -- November 12, 2008 -- “On behalf of patients, survivors and their loved ones across the country, we are enormously encouraged by the work being done by key members of Congress to move health care reform forward as a top priority for the 111th Congress.
“The commitment being shown by leaders including Senate HELP Committee Chairman Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA), Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and others is adding to the already powerful momentum to fix our broken health care system.
“Millions of cancer patients know first-hand the dire state of our country’s health care system, as they regularly fall through the numerous gaps that exist. If we can fix the system for cancer patients, there is a good chance it will function for anyone who needs to access health care in the United States.
“Our health care system needs to be transformed from one focused primarily on acute care to one that prioritizes and more effectively promotes disease prevention and early detection. Meaningful health care reform legislation will repair a broken system so that it encompasses a continuum of care that spans from prevention and early detection all the way through survivorship and end of life care. Additionally any effective reform to the health insurance system must ensure that coverage is adequate, affordable, available and administratively simple.
“We’ve made tremendous progress in the fight against cancer, and we have the tools to prevent nearly 50 percent of cancer deaths. Yet tragically, millions of Americans can’t benefit because there continues to be a tremendous barrier for people to access those tools. Constituents across the country are depending on their elected officials to act quickly and put meaningful health care reform at the top of the priority list when they return to Washington.”
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 https://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]
