Thursday, October 12, 2017

Trump's Executive Order Today Will Leave Millions of Cancer Patients in America Without Access To Decent Coverage


Donald Trump's executive order today, which purports to expand access to quality healthcare for Americans, is in reality a cruel joke that proves once again that this President could not care less about the health and well being of the American people.

Trump’s executive order allows for the expansion of association health plans and changes the rules governing the length and renewability of short-term catastrophic insurance plans.

While pretending to want to give Americans more and better care, Trump, whose multiple efforts to get a healthcare bill have failed in Congress, has cynically and systematically worked these past several months to severely limit healthcare access and kill Obamacare, no matter the human consequences.

His executive order signed today will do further harm to millions of Americans, including cancer patients like me. According to the American Cancer Society, which is hardly a radical, left-wing operation, the order will leave millions of patients who are currently fighting cancer as well as survivors unable to access meaningful coverage.

“Today’s executive order jeopardizes the ability of millions of cancer patients, survivors and those at risk for the disease from being able to access or afford meaningful health insurance," Chris Hansen, President of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), said today.

Hansen explained that the devil is in the details of this order, which exempts an entire set of health plans from covering essential health benefits like prescription drugs and specialty care, and allows expansion of "bare-bones short-term plans" that will split the insurance market. 

"If younger and healthier people leave the market, people with serious illnesses like cancer will be left facing higher and higher premiums with few, if any, insurance choices," Hansen said. 

"Moreover, those who purchase cheap plans are likely to discover their coverage is inadequate when an unexpected health crisis happens, leaving them financially devastated and costing the health care system more overall."

Speaking as a three-time cancer survivor, current cancer patient and global advocate for cancer patients and their families, I can tell you without reservation that Trump is demonstrably the worst enemy cancer patients have ever had in the Oval Office.

Patients and survivors in this great country deserve high-quality, affordable and comprehensive insurance, and have repeatedly made it clear that we do not support the weakening of patient protections which this executive order allows and encourages.

“As the process moves forward," Hansen said today, "we will work as much as possible with the appropriate agencies to implement rules and regulations that protect patients and their access to meaningful health care.”

If you are a cancer patient or care about one, please join me in fighting Trump's executive order and in supporting America's cancer patients and their families. 

Please contact me directly at  jreno@san.rr.com 

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