September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
President Obama has proclaimed September as 2011 Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. See White House Proclaimation of National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Let’s all do our parts to honor those suffering and loved ones lost to cancer by making tangible contributions to Prevent, Advocate, Care and Share solutions and resources for cancer patients and their families.
Although its great news that childhood and other cancer is more treatable than ever, the reality is that many treatable cancer patients don’t get the treatments best able to treat their conditions, many cancers remain incurable, most treatments remain grueling, and no matter the outcome, patients with their cancer endure significant suffering.
In celebration of National Childhood Cancer Awareness month, do your part to make a difference through 3 simple but meaningful actions:
(1) Presention: Do your part to prevent cancer in your family by making one lasting change per month in your family’s health, wellness or lifestyle that helps reduce cancer risks.
(2) Advocate: Help promote the availability of meaningful medical coverage tailored to the needs of cancer patients. Being covered by a government or private health plan does not mean you necessarily have coverage for necessary, much less the best care. The rules for covering cancer and many other serious illnesses under Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIP and other government plans – even more than private insurers and plans- often refuse or limit reimbursement for new or more expensive care. more restrictive rules than those applied by the private insurers The government’s tightening of restrictions and requirements for reimbursement of leading edge and other expensive treatments for patients – often those who are older, younger or suffering multiple conditions or less responsive to more mainstream treatments. These rules often change treatment plans in a way increases survivability, suffering or complications. While we don’t want to pay for fraud, we need to reexamine and correct unduly rigid or restrictive reimbursement standards under the guise of fraud for cancer patients and others. Providing second rate health care to everyone provides coverage for all at the expense of treatment of the people who really need it. This month, honor those suffering and lost from cancer by becoming a watch dog and speaking up on their behalf to Congress, the regulators, payers, providers, and others in the community.
(3) Care: Give some time to help a family dealing with cancer. Run errands, cook dinner, pick up medicines, provide transportation to appointments, provide respite care for caregivers, or provide other help.
(4) Share: Share your experiences, ideas and resources for helping patients, families, providers, insurers, communities, legislators, regulators in the discussions on the The Coalition for Responsible Healthcare Policy and Project COPE linked in groups, and in other venues to help identify and promote the availability of better aids and solutions.
Let’s make sure that Childhood Cancer Awareness Month is about more than a Presidential Proclaimation.
The Coalition for Responsible Healthcare Policy and Project COPE
The Coalition for Responsible Health Care Policy and Project COPE: Coalition On Patient Empowerment bring together employers, health care providers, insurers and other payers, community leaders, patients & others to share and collaborate about policies, challenges, issues, ideals and tools to improve the quality, effectiveness, affordability and access of health care in America and the functional effectiveness and quality of the lives of patients and their families, employer and other plan sponsors, health care providers.
The Coalition for Responsible Health Care Policy focuses on policy choices and their implications on these and other related concerns. Its focus is to help health care, health insurance and other business leaders, patients and their families, community and government leaders and others concerned about federal and state health policy and the implications of federal health care reform proposals on the quality, accessibility, delivery, cost and other aspects of health care to monitor and to exchange feedback and other information about these proposals and to pursue other opportunities to share and promote their ideas about opportunities to improve health care policy and effectiveness in the U.S. Participate in the discussion by joining the Coalition for Responsible Health Care Policy community discussion on linkedin here.
Project COPE: Coalition On Patient Empowerment focuses on identifying, sharing and implementing practical tools and strategies that help empower patients and their families to effectively manage their care and access and use health care resources and help payers, providers & communities to support patients and their families in caring for their families and appropriately accessing quality affordable care. Join the Project COPE community discussion on linkedin here.
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©2011 Cynthia Marcotte Stamer. Limited Right To Republish Granted To Solutions Law Press. All Other Rights Reserved.