BOISE, Idaho — According to the National Cancer Institute, more than one million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the U.S. in 2018.
More cases continue to be diagnosed every day. On Monday, around 50 volunteers from the American Cancer Society spent the day at the Idaho State Capitol talking to lawmakers.
Each year, volunteers meet with their state representatives to talk about all cancer-related legislation.
The number one focus on Monday was Medicaid expansion that was passed last year. The goal was for the volunteers to convince their lawmakers to make sure Medicaid expansion gets the funding it needs to happen, with no restrictions on it.
The ACS said the biggest factor that determines if cancer patients live or die after diagnosis is whether they have health insurance.
With the expansion, more cancer patients would have access to insurance to be able to cover the costs of treatment, which are often quite high.
“Cancer-related costs are just enormous,” said Chad Estes, lead ambassador for the ACS. “In fact, there’s so many people that once they’re diagnosed with cancer, and they go through treatment, that they find themselves in financial difficulty. A lot of people have to avail themselves to go outside of what they can do on their own and there’s a lot of people that have fallen in the gap that do not have the coverage they need and we want to make sure they’re covered.”
The benefits from Medicaid expansion would also help with better cancer prevention, as well as earlier diagnosis and treatment.
One volunteer, Pamela Puckett, knows through personal experience the devastation cancer costs can have on a person and their family.
Her daughter was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer at 33 years old. Her daughter later lost her battle with cancer and passed away in 2016, four years later.
Puckett said she saw how difficult it was financially for her daughter.
“She did have the experience of being denied chemo for medical reasons so I know the heartache and the devastation that brought on and so I feel for the people that are denied for financial reasons,” she said. “I can’t imagine the devastation and the heartache that they go through.”
Puckett adds it was a constant struggle for her daughter to pay thousands and thousands of dollars in hospital bills. She had to use all of her retirement funds and any other money they could come up with just to make ends up meeting.
She feels that cancer patients suffer enough just by fighting the disease so they should not have to suffer financially too.
“I don’t feel like cancer patients should suffer and have to work when they’re in chemo and they’re too sick to work but they’re trying to work,” she said. “They need these funds also.”
Puckett believes the help from Medicaid expansion and health insurance coverage could make a difference for patients like her daughter and she hopes lawmakers will do all they can to get it through efficiently and effectively.