What’s the number #1 reason patients don’t seek medical care? Because they can’t afford it.
Recognizing that all the great technology, drugs, therapies and other cures in the world can’t help patients if patients can’t afford to go to the doctor for diagnosis or treatment, the American Cancer Society has decided to go out on an advertising limb to make people aware of what REALLY needs to be done….
The ACS will spend its entire advertising budget to promote awareness of lack of access to care.
Millions of Americans don’t have health care because they can’t afford it. Millions of additional Americans have health care, but still can’t afford the co-pays and their portions of the cost, plus millions of Americans can afford basic care, but not catastrophic care (for chronic or devastating disesases such as cancer or asthma or alzheimer’s or diabetes).
What they AREN’T saying is how that improved access should happen. No mention of a national health program, no mention of the word “universal”, no mention of expanding Medicare or patterning the VA. To quote Larry, the Cable Guy, they just want the US to “get ‘er done!”
What they are saying is that access is, to them, the number one priority. The ACS’s CEO John Seffrin explains it best, “I believe, if we don’t fix the health care system, that lack of access will be a bigger cancer killer than tobacco,” adding, “The ultimate control of cancer is as much a policy issue as it is a medical and scientific issue.”
I, for one, support these efforts. Yes, I know, people will argue that the money could go to patients for testing or screening… or education about how to detect cancer. I agree. And for many, many years, that’s exactly what the Cancer Society has done.
But more important, in this year prior to an election when so many just don’t understand that there’s a whole lot of lip service and not much activity to improving Americans’ access to healthcare…. Kudos to the ACS.
My donation to the ACS is being well spent. And because of that, I’ll send more.
……………… | |
![]() |
Want more tools and commentary for sharp patients? Sign up for Every Patient’s Advocate once-a-week or so email tips Or link here to empower yourself at EveryPatientsAdvocate.com |
……………… |