As a cancer patient, I know that our nation's current health care system is broken and does not work for many people with cancer.
Too often, the high cost of health care keeps many cancer patients from being able to produce the lifesaving treatments they need. They can be forced to make tough choices such as delaying care, skipping medications or forgoing other household bills just to make ends meet. And if a cancer patient loses his or her job or is no longer able to work, it can be impossible to find reasonable insurance in the private individual market because of pre existing condition exclusions and excellent based on health status.
Cancer patients can experience all of the ambush of the current broken health care system. Which is why, if we can fix it for them, we can fix it for parctically anyone at risk of being diagnosed with a chronic disease. We need to focus on transforming the current system to one that places greater emphasis on preventing disease, provides quality, reasonable health insurance for all Americans and emphasizes the importance of supporting a patient's choice of life.
The good news is that the bills currently being argument by Congress represent a huge promotion for people fighting cancer.
In their current form, the bills guard that no one will be denied coverage or charged a higher premium because of pre existing medical conditions, place an addition accent on prevention and eliminate annual and lifetime dollar caps on benefits. These are enormous steps forward.
But the only way that we can benefit from this progress is if we keep the momentum going and call on Congress to pass health care reform legislation. At the same time, Congress wants to ensure that any reform includes reportage that is adequate and reasonable for people with cancer and other life threatening chronic diseases.
To action that, we want to make sure that insurance premiums are reasonable for everyone, that there is a reasonable limit on out of pocket costs to the patient and that the benefits are acceptable to treat a person with cancer.
Cancer patients across the country are digging deep into their savings and risking financial ruin to pay for lifesaving care. In Utah, 1 in 4 control people under the age of 65 live in households that spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care costs. This number added by 89 percent between 2000 and 2008.
High costs are forcing tough decisions upon families with cancer that no one should ever have to make. Nearly a third of all adults who have been diagnosed with cancer face difficulty paying for necessities such as food, housing, heat and other bills. No cancer patient should ever be pressured to make a decision between continuing their life or keeping their life savings.
We cannot abase death and suffering from cancer if the country does not improve access to quality, reasonable health care for all Americans. Cancer patients know too well the holes in our broken "sick care" system. The status quo is not an option for cancer patients and survivors who are struggling to allow the care they need. We need Congress to put aside partisan politics and act now, not later, on behalf of all of their constituents who have cancer or who could get cancer -- in other words, for all of us.
Iris Tolley is the lead volunteer for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in Utah. She is also a terminal cancer patient and has exponent for cancer patients in Washington and at the Utah State Capitol. She lives in Nephi.
Too often, the high cost of health care keeps many cancer patients from being able to produce the lifesaving treatments they need. They can be forced to make tough choices such as delaying care, skipping medications or forgoing other household bills just to make ends meet. And if a cancer patient loses his or her job or is no longer able to work, it can be impossible to find reasonable insurance in the private individual market because of pre existing condition exclusions and excellent based on health status.
Cancer patients can experience all of the ambush of the current broken health care system. Which is why, if we can fix it for them, we can fix it for parctically anyone at risk of being diagnosed with a chronic disease. We need to focus on transforming the current system to one that places greater emphasis on preventing disease, provides quality, reasonable health insurance for all Americans and emphasizes the importance of supporting a patient's choice of life.
The good news is that the bills currently being argument by Congress represent a huge promotion for people fighting cancer.
In their current form, the bills guard that no one will be denied coverage or charged a higher premium because of pre existing medical conditions, place an addition accent on prevention and eliminate annual and lifetime dollar caps on benefits. These are enormous steps forward.
But the only way that we can benefit from this progress is if we keep the momentum going and call on Congress to pass health care reform legislation. At the same time, Congress wants to ensure that any reform includes reportage that is adequate and reasonable for people with cancer and other life threatening chronic diseases.
To action that, we want to make sure that insurance premiums are reasonable for everyone, that there is a reasonable limit on out of pocket costs to the patient and that the benefits are acceptable to treat a person with cancer.
Cancer patients across the country are digging deep into their savings and risking financial ruin to pay for lifesaving care. In Utah, 1 in 4 control people under the age of 65 live in households that spend more than 10 percent of their income on health care costs. This number added by 89 percent between 2000 and 2008.
High costs are forcing tough decisions upon families with cancer that no one should ever have to make. Nearly a third of all adults who have been diagnosed with cancer face difficulty paying for necessities such as food, housing, heat and other bills. No cancer patient should ever be pressured to make a decision between continuing their life or keeping their life savings.
We cannot abase death and suffering from cancer if the country does not improve access to quality, reasonable health care for all Americans. Cancer patients know too well the holes in our broken "sick care" system. The status quo is not an option for cancer patients and survivors who are struggling to allow the care they need. We need Congress to put aside partisan politics and act now, not later, on behalf of all of their constituents who have cancer or who could get cancer -- in other words, for all of us.
Iris Tolley is the lead volunteer for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network in Utah. She is also a terminal cancer patient and has exponent for cancer patients in Washington and at the Utah State Capitol. She lives in Nephi.
No comments:
Post a Comment