WASHINGTON, D.C. -- June 9, 2009 -- Draft health care legislation unveiled by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee represents a critical step toward enacting comprehensive health care reform this year.
The detailed proposal would extend access to quality care to all Americans by guaranteeing issue of plans to all applicants, eliminating discrimination based on health status or history, capping out-of-pocket costs that patients pay and placing greater emphasis on disease prevention critical components that will benefit cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones.
“To eliminate death and suffering from cancer, we must ensure that all Americans have access to quality, affordable health care,” said John R. Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). “Families struggling to afford the growing cost of lifesaving cancer care need Congress and the President to enact health care reform this year.”
ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, commends HELP Committee Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-MA) a longtime champion of public health who is waging a brave battle against cancer for his concerted efforts to make comprehensive reform a reality this year. The cancer community looks forward to reviewing the forthcoming proposal from Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Ranking Member Charles Grassley (R-IA), and is encouraged by the efforts of the two committees to present a single bill for the Senate’s consideration in the coming weeks.
“Cancer patients encounter numerous problems in our country’s current health care system and often must delay or forego lifesaving screenings and treatments because of lack of access to critical care,” said Daniel E. Smith, president of ACS CAN. “If we can fix the health care system for cancer patients, we will fix it for virtually anyone who needs quality health care.”
ACS CAN is the leading voice of patients in the health care reform debate, having worked with a broad cross-section of stakeholders for the past several years to build momentum for reform nationwide. ACS CAN will ultimately support legislation that meets specific goals critical to the fight against cancer.
First, legislation must provide all Americans with insurance coverage that is available, adequate, affordable, and administratively simple. Consistent with this principle, legislation must:
Eliminate any use of health status in eligibility and premium rating, including prohibiting pre-existing condition restrictions and premium surcharges for smoking and obesity.
Limit the cost burden on families by capping out-of-pocket costs, abolishing annual and lifetime limits on benefits and providing subsidies for low-income individuals and families who cannot afford care.
Establish a process to determine a minimum level of benefits based on science to ensure all Americans receive adequate care for serious medical conditions like cancer.
Second, legislation must also transform the current “sick care” system to promote and encourage disease prevention through:
Better access to preventive services such as cancer screenings, smoking cessation programs and public education to improve diet and exercise.
Integration of existing government prevention entities into a single, cohesive process to identify national priorities for prevention services based on scientific evidence, set performance standards and measure quality.
Recent polling data commissioned by ACS CAN revealed that 40 percent of families affected by cancer had trouble affording care in the past few years and one in four people currently receiving cancer-related care has delayed treatment in the past year. The data shed light on the large numbers of people who are fighting for their lives while also having to fight for their life savings. Families affected by cancer need action, now not later.
ACS CAN continues to advocate for an increase in the Federal tobacco tax as one way to help finance reform. Increasing the tax has the dual health benefit of generating revenue for services while encouraging cessation of tobacco products a leading cause of lung cancer - which kills 400,000 Americans each year. Research shows that every 10 percent increase in the cost of a pack of cigarettes leads to a seven percent decrease in youth smoking rates and a four percent reduction in overall consumption.
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:
Steven Weiss
Phone: (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected]
Alissa Havens
Phone: (202) 661-5772
Email: [email protected]