John Edwards for President: ARCHIVAL MIRROR-A National Strategy for Cancer Survivorship

A National Strategy for Cancer Survivorship

"We must support Americans living with cancer, and their families. I want any man or woman who faces a diagnosis of cancer to have the same high-quality care that my wife, Elizabeth, has received." -- John Edwards

Thirty-six years ago, an American president declared "war on cancer." President Nixon aimed at finding "a cure" and eradicating cancer. Americans – Democrats and Republicans working together – have won many battles since then. While cancer remains the number-one killer of people under 85, fewer Americans are dying from cancer: the five-year survival rate is 66 percent, up from 50 percent roughly 30 years ago. Today, in part because of the hard work of scientists, medical providers, family members and other caregivers, we can talk about 10.5 million cancer survivors and people living with cancer, and not just cancer victims. To keep America moving forward, John Edwards understands that more is needed than just fighting the disease to help individuals and families live strong while living with cancer. [ACS, 2007; NCI, 2003]

Today, Edwards outlined an aggressive blueprint for a National Strategy for Cancer Survivorship. The foundation of the blueprint is Edwards' plan for true universal health care that will help ensure that Americans with cancer are diagnosed earlier and receive the highest quality care. Edwards' announcement puts four pillars on top of the foundation – supporting families; strengthening research; reducing risk factors; and closing health disparities. Building from this blueprint, America can develop a comprehensive and coordinated multi-agency strategy to take the next important steps in the fight against cancer.

Offer Every American with Cancer the Highest Quality Care

We have two health care systems in this country today – one for people who can afford the very best care and one for everyone else. True universal health care is the foundation for Edwards' strategy for cancer survivorship. He has proposed a detailed plan to take on the big insurance companies and HMOs, and guarantee that every American can get the care they need, when they need it. As president, he will:

Guarantee True Universal Health Care: Under Edwards' plan, every last person will have affordable, quality and comprehensive health coverage. For cancer patients, insurance is critical because you can't get chemotherapy in the emergency room. Uninsured cancer patients receive half the treatment that those with insurance do and have higher mortality rates. Universal coverage will give cancer patients access to the treatments they need and reduce mortality rates. [Thorpe and Howard, 2003]
Require Low or No-Cost Preventive Screenings: Regular screenings save countless lives, but they are too rare, especially among the uninsured, low-income Americans and families of color. Edwards will require insurance companies to offer a full range of preventive and early treatment services, including screening for cancer at little or no cost, and support prevention and wellness initiatives to ensure screening becomes universal. [ACS, 2007]
Revolutionize Chronic Care: Because of early detection and improvements in treatment, millions of cancer survivors are living with cancer as a chronic condition. Edwards' plan will transform cancer care by creating patient-centered "medical homes" – an approach to medical practice that enables primary care physicians to help navigate care with patients, making sure they are getting effective treatment from a coordinated team and receiving needed palliative care. He will also help patients avoid duplicate tests and conflicting prescriptions by using technology to improve communication among providers and with patients through improved health care technology.
Require Fair Terms for Health Insurance: Nearly one in two men and one in three women will develop cancer during their lifetimes. Edwards will require insurers to keep plans open to everyone and charge fair premiums, regardless of preexisting conditions, medical history, age, job and other characteristics. No longer will insurance companies be able to game the system to cover only healthy people. [Lance Armstrong Foundation, 2006]
Hold Insurance Companies Accountable: Patients and their doctors – not claims analysts – should make choices about what care is best for them and their families. Edwards will enact a patient's bill of rights to hold health insurance companies accountable when they try to deny coverage for necessary treatment.

Supporting Families Surviving Cancer

Few people fight cancer by themselves. When a family member is diagnosed with cancer, all their relatives and friends are affected by the diagnosis too. To help support families living with cancer, Edwards will:

Protect Families' Economic Security: A cancer diagnosis often results in real financial hardship for families, with or without health insurance. Medical bills contribute to nearly half of the 1.5 million personal bankruptcies filed in the U.S. each year – and three quarters of those families actually have health insurance. Edwards' universal health care plan will save the average family $2,500 a year and guarantee the kind of catastrophic coverage that will keep families from falling off the edge. Edwards also supports strengthening civil rights laws to protect Americans living with cancer. [Warren et al., 2005]
Promote Effective Social Supports: The government has made significant advances by sponsoring important medical science that has saved millions of lives. But organic communities and nonprofit groups have done most of the heavy lifting in developing emotional and social support systems that are, themselves, lifesaving for so many people living with cancer. We need to study which support models are effective, make sure health care providers know what works and help public-private partnerships replicate their success.
Offer Respite Care and Other Support to Families Who Care for Loved Ones: Enormous burdens are placed on ordinary Americans who provide full-time care for loved ones with debilitating conditions. Edwards will support respite care services providing home visits from nurses or other aides to give caregivers much-needed breaks. Part of his effort will establish an Internet clearinghouse to give families more information about available services.

Strengthening America's Research Agenda:

We need to step up our research efforts to find the causes of cancer, as well as better treatments. And that research must be transparent, accountable and be driven by science, not ideology. As president, Edwards will:

Increase NIH Funding: It used to be that close to five out of 10 requests for National Cancer Institute grants were approved. Now it's less than two out of 10, and existing grants are being cut back. The answers to the problems we face could be somewhere in the eight we turn down. Edwards supports substantial increases in funding for the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, which supports the National Cancer Institute, and other ongoing initiatives, as well as measures to ensure transparency in funding decisions, accountability for results and align research with outcomes.
Respect Science: John Edwards believes that policy should be science driven, and that science shouldn't be politics driven. Ideological debates have drained resources from promising research. Edwards will increase funding for and lift stifling research restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, while banning reproductive human cloning.
Clear the Air: We don't know enough about what factors in the environment – in the air, the water and elsewhere – cause cancer. We need more research to collect and analyze the evidence, allay concerns and take corrective action dictated by the science. Edwards supports a new national initiative to study the role environmental factors play in the development of cancer.

Promoting Healthy Lifestyles and Reducing Environmental Risk Factors

Some types of cancer can be prevented through lifestyle changes or making the environments in which we live and work safer. About 190,000 cancer deaths are caused by obesity, poor nutrition and lack of exercise. Radon, asbestos, pollution and other toxic substances in everyday life also contribute to high incidences of cancer. [ACS, 2005; Field et al., 2000; NCI, undated]

Support Healthy Lifestyles: Edwards will boost public health funding, work with schools to remove unhealthy foods, invest in physical education, support smoking cessation programs and promote wellness and fitness in communities and workplaces. [The Wellness Community, 2007]
Guard Our Environment: Air and water pollution increase the risk of cancer. Edwards will vigorously enforce the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts to protect Americans in their daily lives. [NIEHS, 2002, NCI, 1997]
Taking on Toxic Substances: Americans have no information on the toxicity of at least 60 percent of the most common and pervasive chemicals, even those suspected to be carcinogenic. Edwards will improve Americans' right-to-know about toxic, potentially carcinogenic substances in their consumer products and communities. He will reverse the Bush EPA's December 2006 rule shielding polluters from increased disclosure, and make the reports easier for regular Americans to search and understand. He will also strengthen the EPA and FDA's power to require testing and labeling of potentially toxic chemicals in foods and consumer products. [CPR, 2007; GAO, 2007]

Closing Health Disparities

Low-income families, limited English language speakers and people of color are less likely to receive quality care. Because people of color are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer and less likely to receive timely and effective treatment, they also experience higher cancer mortality rates. For example, death from cancer is 40 percent higher among African American men than white men and 20 percent higher among African American women than white women. [Garner, 2003; Goel, 2003; ACS, 2004]

support medical research into disparities so we know where we can effectively target our resources to improve,
reduce the pollutions and toxins that disproportionately harm low-income neighborhoods and communities of color,
invest in translation services to address language barriers that can impede care or cause medical errors,
address disparities in health caused by disparities in insurance by implementing universal coverage and
guarantee that all Americans get high-quality health care – disparities persist today even among Americans with health insurance – by encouraging all providers to implement evidence-based medicine that makes best practices contagious.