August 31, 2007 - Another Risk Factor for Cancer

Today's New York Times contains an article reporting on a dramatic change of strategy for the American Cancer Society. They've decided to dedicate $15 million – their entire advertising budget for next year – to a series of ads dramatizing the plight of the uninsured.

Some are charging that this strategy is too political – although the Society's leadership is quick to point out that the ads are non-partisan, and don't call for any single solution to the crisis of the uninsured (such as universal health care coverage). They are, however, going to be spending heavily for ads in states with early Presidential primaries, in an effort to influence the direction of the debate.

I can see why the Society would want to do this. They spend millions every year encouraging people to get early-screening tests for cancer. These tests save lives, no doubt about it. Yet, the uninsured are much less likely to go for these tests. Who's going to go out and get a colonoscopy for routine cancer screening, if it means paying the full cost of $3,000 or more out of pocket? People without medical insurance are highly unlikely to have this kind of money just sitting in a bank account somewhere (if they did, they would probably have used it to buy insurance).

"I believe, if we don't fix the health care system, that lack of access will be a bigger cancer killer than tobacco," says John R. Seffrin, chief executive of the Cancer Society. "The ultimate control of cancer is as much a public policy issue as it is a medical and scientific issue."

Here are some eye-opening statistics from the article:

• According to the U.S. Census, the number and percentage of people in the United States without health insurance is on the rise. Last year, 47 million people – 15.8 percent of the population – lacked medical insurance. That's one in seven people who are at a higher risk for cancer, because they probably won't be going for screenings.

• One out of every 10 cancer patients is uninsured. I can't imagine trying to pursue the costly treatments for lymphoma without insurance. It's hard enough affording them with insurance! It's also hard enough managing the paperwork, keeping track of appointments, and all the rest. If I had to do that as a charity-care patient – filling out endless forms for financial assistance, and having to endure long waits for scarce appointments – obtaining treatment would seem like a full-time job in itself.

• One out of every four families affected by cancer will be impoverished as a result of the disease – including one out of every five who do have medical insurance.

• Uninsured breast cancer patients are more than twice as likely to have their cancer diagnosed in late stages as those with private insurance. The same is true of those suffering from cancers of the larynx and mouth.

• This advertising expense, large as it is, is just a drop in the bucket, compared to commercial advertisers. The American Cancer Society's planned expenditure of $15 million on this campaign in the next year is just a quarter of what just one auto-insurance company, Geico, is spending on its "caveman" series of ads.


People are literally dying because they lack health insurance. When is the nation going to wake up and realize that – voting only for politicians who have a concrete plan for doing something about it?