Letter: Bill supports biomarker testing
This letter originally ran in the Lincoln Journal Star.
News
A Focus on the Patient: Ensuring Quality of Life for Cancer Patients
June 18, 2009
While the merits of comprehensive health care reform legislation are debated in the halls of Congress, ACS CAN urges lawmakers to keep patients' needs top of mind. That means including measures that improve communication between health professional and patients -- ensuring that cancer patients and care givers are involved in all aspects of the decision making process throughout the course of the disease. It's about meeting the needs of the patient rather than just treating the disease.
Earlier this week, ACS CAN president Dan Smith spoke at a Capitol Hill Briefing on the need for legislation that improves palliative care and addresses quality of life issues for patients with chronic diseases. Research proves that in addition to improving the quality of life of patients, palliative care treatment plans help reduce the cost of health care spending by lowering the number of hospital and intensive care unit visits for a patient.
As the leading patient voice in the health care reform debate, ACS CAN is dedicated to ensuring that patients receive access to the full continuum of care, and supports health care reform legislation measures that address pain and symptom management, care planning and coordination for patients and survivors, and end of life care.