American Society For Radiation Oncology Applauds President And Congress On Healthcare Reform

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP;  Radiology / Nuclear Medicine
Article Date: 25 Mar 2010 - 4:00 PDT


The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) applauds Congress and President Obama's efforts in achieving overarching healthcare reform, lifting barriers to timely treatment for cancer patients which will save countless lives.

Studies have shown that lack of health insurance leads to patients having their cancer diagnosed later than patients with health insurance, resulting in higher mortality and more invasive treatments. Radiation oncologists are hopeful these new provisions will aid millions of Americans without previous access to care in receiving needed treatments. We believe the reforms eliminating preexisting condition limitations and lifetime caps for coverage will positively impact families across the country. This legislation will prevent patients from losing their insurance once a cancer diagnosis has been made because insurers will no longer be able to drop them because of their illness.

"We believe that the insurance reforms will aid in early cancer diagnosis and prevention. Maintaining access to coverage for patients and cancer survivors will ultimately save lives," Tim R. Williams, M.D., chairman of ASTRO and a radiation oncologist at Boca Raton Community Hospital in Boca Raton, Fla., said. "We look forward to working with Congress and governmental agencies to develop comparative effectiveness programs to improve quality care for patients."

Source
ASTRO
http://www.astro.org

• Additional
• References
• Citations