ACS campaign on health insurance
Cancer Society Focuses Its Ads on the Uninsured
By Kevin Sack
The New York Times
August 31, 2007
In a stark departure from past practice, the American Cancer Society plans to devote its entire $15 million advertising budget this year not to smoking cessation or colorectal screening but to the consequences of inadequate health coverage.
The campaign was born of the group’s frustration that cancer rates are not dropping as rapidly as hoped, and of recent research linking a lack of insurance to delays in detecting malignancies.
The two 60-second television commercials that form the spine of the campaign make that point.
One features images of uninsured cancer patients, appearing hollow and fearful. “This is what a health care crisis looks like to the American Cancer Society,” the narrator begins. “We’re making progress, but it’s not enough if people don’t have access to the care that could save their lives.”
The other commercial depicts a young mother whose family has gone into debt because her insurance did not fully cover her cancer treatment. “Is the choice between caring for yourself and caring for your family really a choice?” the narrator asks.
Census figures released this week show that the number and percentage of people in the United States without health insurance rose last year, to 47 million and 15.8 percent. A 2003 study estimated that one of every 10 cancer patients was uninsured.
Other surveys have found that one of every four families afflicted by cancer, which is projected to kill 560,000 Americans this year, is effectively impoverished by the fight, including one of every five with insurance.
John R. Seffrin, the chief executive of the cancer society, which is based here, said his organization had concluded that advances in prevention and research would have little lasting impact if Americans could not afford cancer screening and treatment.
“I believe, if we don’t fix the health care system, that lack of access will be a bigger cancer killer than tobacco,” Mr. Seffrin said in an interview. “The ultimate control of cancer is as much a public policy issue as it is a medical and scientific issue.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/31/us/31cancer.html?_r=2&hp=&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all
Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD
The message of the American Cancer Society is clear. The most important single measure that would improve access to care that could save lives would be to provide everyone with comprehensive health insurance.
Coverage alone is not enough. The growth in innovative private plans that compete based on the premium charged are rapidly expanding the rate of underinsurance, thereby creating financial hardship for those insured individuals who develop cancer (or other major diseases or injuries).
Reform proposals that build on our current system of financing care are dependent on a dramatic expansion in the use of these inadequate innovative plans. What a cruel policy recommendation. A mother should never have to let her cancer go untreated merely because feeding her children is a higher priority.
Good public policy, such a comprehensive national health insurance program, saves lives. Bad public policy, such as encouraging underinsurance in the private market, kills.