Cantwell to Find Fix to Cuts in Cancer Care: Medicare Drug Bill Could Cut $11.5 Billion in Cancer Care
SEATTLE, WA. - U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell met today with cancer patients, doctors and nurses at the Puget Sound Cancer Centers to hear their concerns about how the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill will impact cancer care in Washington state.
"Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not the way we should deal with cancer care. Cancer patients have enough to deal with and should not be forced to worry about whether they will be able to access the treatment and care they need," said Cantwell.
Across the country, over 80% of all cancer care is delivered in outpatient, community cancer centers, rather than in urban hospitals. This makes it possible for patients outside urban centers to receive frequent chemotherapy treatments without driving long hours several times a week to major city centers. One significant change to the Medicare system due to this bill is the method by which these cancer drugs and care services are reimbursed.
As a way to fund the prescription benefits, Congress included a major cut to these reimbursement amounts that has the real possibility of forcing some community cancer centers to close or limit the kind of care they can deliver. This would leave seniors with cancer facing big changes in where and how they receive care.
"These cuts will cause consequences for those least able to deal with it – seniors with cancer," according to Jean Reinkenbach, a cancer patient receiving care at PSCC.
"Oncologists have spent over 20 years building a community cancer care system that is designed specifically around cancer patients' complex needs – and it works. Not every person who gets cancer can drive extra miles and spend extra hours to receive care. The Medicare funding cuts in this bill could set cancer care back twenty years if this isn't fixed," added Dr. Jeffery Ward, medical oncologist with PSCC in Edmonds.
Between the time that Congress adjourned on November 24, 2003 and returns later this month, Senator Cantwell will have done nearly twenty hall meetings across the state, talking to people about the Medicare prescription drug bill since it was passed by Congress. The cancer community is of special interest since the bill can actually take away a level of care that seniors depend upon today.
"We have some of the best oncologists in the world right here in Washington State. We must ensure that they have the tools they need to do their job on behalf of so many people," added Cantwell. "They cannot heal with a magic wand."
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