Cancer Care is in Crisis — Contact Your Members of Congress TODAY!
The government is planning to make severe cuts to cancer care. The cuts will impact all Americans with cancer, not just those covered by Medicare. For example, payments for the administration of life-saving cancer drugs will be slashed by up to 38%. Critical cancer diagnostic tests and radiation treatment will be affected.
Payment cuts already made are impacting doctors’ ability to treat patients. Some clinics have closed; others will have to close. If these new cuts take place, they will cause a major crisis in cancer care. The United States has the best documented cancer care in the world, but it is now seriously threatened.
Call your members of Congress TODAY and ask for their help:
Help Stop the Cuts to Cancer Care!
Health care reform needs to fix cancer care; not break it further.
Get Involved in Advocating for Cancer Care!
Click here on how to contact your Representatives and Senators and what to say.
Click here for a brief explanation of the cancer care crisis that you can share with everyone you know — the Cancer Patients’ Right to Know.
Click here if you need more answers to your questions about the cancer care crisis.
Additionally, if you go to the Legislative Action Center on the COA homepage, you can send emails to your Representatives and Senators.
On behalf of the Community Oncology Alliance (COA), I would like to welcome you to participate in the COA Patient Advocacy Network — CPAN for short. The purpose of CPAN is to:
- Inform cancer patients, caregivers, and survivors about the forces impacting the delivery of cancer care;
- Network with others in the cancer community; and
- Advocate for the advancement of cancer care.
Doctors and dedicated staff fight hard for cancer patients every day. We fight to ensure the correct diagnosis and find the most effective treatment — and increasingly have to fight to get treatments paid for by insurance companies and Medicare. Unfortunately, in trying to shield our patients from the finances of cancer care, we have done a poor job of educating our patients to advocate on their own behalf. During the debate over health care reform, it has become obvious that the time has come for the entire cancer community to be involved in advocating for cancer care. The United States has the best proven cancer care in the world, yet there are aspects of certain health care reform proposals that threaten cancer care. We have to ensure that every American has equal access to quality, affordable, and accessible cancer care. In order to do that, we have to be realistic about the shrinking resources provided to community cancer clinics, which treat 4 out of 5 Americans with cancer.
I welcome all to help us build CPAN into an effective voice for cancer care!
Rick Frame, MD
This page will turn into a full-blown CPAN website in short order. We are looking for input from all to help design a site that really meets the needs of patients, caregivers, and survivors. We need your input!!!
In the meantime, we are providing several resources for you. There are materials for you to learn about the pressures on cancer care in health care reform proposals and to get involved in reaching out to Members of Congress. And we provide a blog for you to ask questions, make suggestions, and share your ideas. Join us and get involved today!
To learn more about CPAN or to join us,
click here to send an email to Dr. Frame.
Prospective Corporate Sponsors of CPAN
Click here for a description of CPAN and its goals.