Access to Health Care 101

Summary

The video highlights the struggles of cancer patients in the U.S. who lack health insurance, like Reina and Cathy, who face huge medical costs while battling cancer. Despite advances in cancer detection and treatment, millions of Americans are unable to access life-saving care due to high costs and lack of insurance. The American Cancer Society aims to raise awareness and provide support, as many patients face impossible choices, depleting savings or going into debt to survive. The message calls for organized action to ensure equal access to cancer care for all Americans.

Takeaways

• 😔 The speaker was diagnosed with cancer at 15 in 1996 and faced a second diagnosis of thyroid cancer recently.
• 😓 After losing her job and health insurance, the speaker struggled to afford necessary cancer treatments.
• 💼 She opened her own daycare business but was unable to get health insurance due to her pre-existing cancer history.
• 💸 Medical bills for treatments, including surgeries and MRIs, were overwhelmingly high and unaffordable.
• 🇺🇸 Millions of Americans face a similar problem of being uninsured or unable to afford life-saving cancer care.
• ⚠️ This issue affects not only the uninsured but also middle-income families, who may exhaust savings and struggle with basic living costs.
• 🔍 Progress in cancer research is leading to new technologies, treatments, and early detection, but access to these advances remains limited for many.
• 💊 Expensive cancer treatments, even when partially covered by insurance, leave patients with unaffordable costs, sometimes tens of thousands of dollars.
• 💔 Many families face difficult financial decisions, including borrowing money or going without essentials like food and heating.
• 💡 The American Cancer Society aims to raise awareness and provide support, but access to affordable cancer care remains a significant problem.

Q & A

What were the two instances when the speaker was diagnosed with cancer?

The speaker was first diagnosed with cancer in 1996 at the age of 15 and was diagnosed again last year with thyroid cancer.

How did the speaker react to the second cancer diagnosis?

The speaker took the second diagnosis hard because they were unsure if they would have to go through the same difficult process as during the first diagnosis.

What additional challenges did the speaker face after their second cancer diagnosis?

In addition to the cancer diagnosis, the speaker faced losing their job, not having insurance, and difficulty finding insurance due to a pre-existing condition.

How did the lack of health insurance impact the speaker's situation?

The speaker was unable to secure insurance due to their pre-existing condition, which made it difficult to cover the enormous medical bills necessary for cancer treatment.

What financial difficulties did the speaker mention regarding cancer treatment costs?

The speaker mentioned that the bills were overwhelming, with an MRI costing $5,000 and surgeries and treatments amounting to thousands of dollars.

What personal toll did these healthcare costs have on the speaker and their family?

The speaker mentioned being sent to collection agencies due to unpaid medical bills, and shared how it financially devastated middle-income families, leading to late mortgage payments and even difficulty paying for basic needs like food and heat.

How does the American Cancer Society view the current healthcare issue in America?

The American Cancer Society sees the lack of access to quality cancer care as a major problem, especially for the 47 million uninsured Americans, leading to lost lives and difficult decisions.

What positive developments in the fight against cancer are mentioned in the script?

The script mentions that cancer incidence and death rates are declining due to new technologies that detect cancer earlier, innovative therapies, and an abundance of information that can help prevent cancer.

Why is access to cancer care still a challenge for many Americans despite medical advancements?

Even with medical advancements, 47 million Americans without health insurance face significant barriers to accessing life-saving cancer care, often being forced to make impossible financial decisions.

How did the American Cancer Society assist the speaker?

While the American Cancer Society did not provide direct financial help, they connected the speaker with other organizations and programs that could offer assistance, giving them some hope during a difficult time.

Outlines

00:00

😓 Battling Cancer Without Insurance

The speaker reflects on their first cancer diagnosis at 15 and a recent diagnosis of thyroid cancer. Facing both cancer and unemployment, they express the hardships of not having insurance while needing critical care. After losing their job and starting a daycare business, they struggled to get insurance due to a pre-existing condition. The high cost of medical bills, combined with the fear of not receiving necessary treatment, highlights the emotional and financial challenges they face, emphasizing the fear that without proper care, they may not survive.

05:02

💔 America's Cancer Care Crisis

The American Cancer Society addresses the systemic issue of cancer care in America. Millions of uninsured Americans struggle to access life-saving cancer treatments, with many forced to forego care. This tragedy, despite advancements in cancer detection and treatment, leaves many vulnerable. For 47 million uninsured Americans, getting cancer care can be nearly impossible. The speaker also touches on the personal toll this takes on middle-income families, who are financially crushed by medical costs, and often left unable to afford basic necessities while covering medical bills.

📉 The Burden of Cancer Costs

The speaker outlines the overwhelming financial burden cancer imposes on families, even those with health insurance. Citing examples of expensive treatments, they emphasize that even with 70% insurance coverage, families are left with tens of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses. The crushing weight of these medical bills often leads families to drain their savings, fall behind on mortgage payments, and rely on credit, eventually leading to food and heat shortages. This situation exemplifies the failure of the healthcare system to support those fighting cancer.

💡 The Call to Action

The speaker urges the American Cancer Society to continue its nearly century-long mission of advocacy, raising awareness, and supporting those affected by cancer. The commitment to organize, educate the public, and offer solutions is reaffirmed. This leadership is essential to addressing the issue of inadequate healthcare and ensuring that every American has access to the cancer care they need, highlighting the urgency of this ongoing struggle.

🙌 Finding Hope Through Support

The speaker shares their personal experience of seeking help from the American Cancer Society during their cancer battle. Although the organization did not provide direct financial assistance, it guided them to other helpful programs and organizations. Despite the overwhelming challenges, the speaker expresses gratitude for the support and hope that these resources provide, appreciating the role of the American Cancer Society in offering guidance and emotional support during a difficult time.

Keywords

💡Cancer Diagnosis

A cancer diagnosis is the identification of cancer within a patient, often marking the start of a challenging journey involving treatment and emotional stress. In the video, the protagonist describes being diagnosed twice, once as a teenager and again with thyroid cancer as an adult, underscoring the unpredictable recurrence of cancer in some patients’ lives and the personal impact it can have.

💡Health Insurance

Health insurance is a system that helps cover medical expenses, essential for many who face life-threatening conditions like cancer. The video highlights the protagonist’s difficulty in accessing insurance due to a pre-existing cancer history, showing how the lack of insurance can severely hinder access to necessary treatments and contribute to financial distress.

💡Financial Hardship

Financial hardship refers to the severe economic strain experienced by many cancer patients due to high medical expenses. In the video, this includes the cost of treatments, such as MRI scans and surgeries, which can total thousands of dollars. The burden leads some families to struggle with basic needs like food and heating, illustrating the broader theme of the financial challenges faced by patients without adequate insurance.

💡Pre-existing Condition

A pre-existing condition is a medical condition that existed before an individual's health insurance policy start date. For cancer patients, like those in the video, this can result in being denied coverage or facing inflated premiums, emphasizing a systemic issue where insurance companies exclude those with prior health issues, leaving patients unable to afford essential care.

💡American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting cancer through research, advocacy, and support programs. In the video, the ACS acknowledges the systemic issue of healthcare inaccessibility and pledges to raise awareness and advocate for better solutions, showing its commitment to bridging the gap for those affected by cancer-related financial hardships.

💡Cancer Treatment Costs

Cancer treatment costs refer to the high expenses associated with treating cancer, including surgeries, chemotherapy, and advanced therapies. The video describes costs that can be as high as $30,000 out-of-pocket even with insurance, presenting a significant financial barrier for middle-income families and underscoring the need for financial reforms in healthcare access.

💡Healthcare Inequality

Healthcare inequality reflects disparities in access to quality healthcare based on factors like income and insurance status. The video highlights the plight of 47 million uninsured Americans who struggle to access timely cancer treatments, often with life-or-death consequences, thereby emphasizing the need for reform in healthcare access and insurance policies.

💡Advocacy

Advocacy involves actively promoting a cause or policy change, often through public awareness and policy lobbying. In this video, the American Cancer Society expresses its commitment to advocacy, aiming to mobilize public support and political action to ensure cancer patients have access to necessary care without facing severe financial hardship.

💡Innovative Cancer Treatments

Innovative cancer treatments are advanced therapies that target and treat cancer in new ways, contributing to the recent decline in cancer incidences and deaths. Although these treatments offer hope, the video stresses that they remain out of reach for uninsured or financially struggling individuals, highlighting a paradox of medical advancement amidst unequal access.

💡Emotional Toll

The emotional toll refers to the psychological and emotional burden faced by individuals dealing with cancer diagnoses, financial insecurity, and healthcare accessibility issues. The protagonist’s story of coping with job loss, cancer recurrence, and insurance denial showcases how these challenges can impact mental well-being, highlighting a need for comprehensive support systems.

Highlights

Diagnosed with cancer for the first time at 15 years old in 1996.

Diagnosed with thyroid cancer again last year, leading to emotional distress and uncertainty about treatment.

After losing her job, faced a difficult situation: no health insurance and a recent cancer diagnosis.

Struggled to find insurance due to pre-existing conditions, leaving her worried about how to cover medical costs.

Opened her own daycare but still couldn’t find an insurance provider to cover her due to her cancer history.

Expresses the frustration of receiving massive medical bills without the means to pay for necessary cancer treatment.

Millions of Americans face the same issue of inadequate access to cancer care, leaving many without life-saving treatments.

Despite new technological advances in cancer detection and treatment, 47 million Americans lack health insurance.

Many uninsured Americans are forced to seek primary healthcare too late for effective cancer treatment.

Middle-income families, despite having homes and jobs, face financial devastation from medical bills.

Cancer treatments, such as new colon cancer therapies, are so expensive that families are driven to financial ruin.

Patients often deplete all their savings and are forced to miss mortgage payments or rely on credit cards.

40% of families eventually find themselves unable to afford basic necessities like food or heating while paying for cancer treatments.

American Cancer Society’s efforts include advocating for widespread awareness and helping patients find alternative resources.

Despite the struggles, the American Cancer Society was praised for providing helpful resources and hope during difficult times.

Transcripts

the first time that I was diagnosed with

cancer was actually in 1996 I was 15

years old

last year I was diagnosed with thyroid

cancer and

once again I mean I took it hard

because I didn't know if I was gonna

have to go through everything that I

went through the first time

when I was downsized in my job I

actually did not have insurance so we're

dealing with losing job getting

diagnosed cancer and not having

insurance which

having no idea how in the world I'm even

going to be able to take care of myself

medically I left my my job my previous

job and decided to open my own daycare

it was then that I found out that no

insurance companies would really pick me

up because of my pre-existing history

the bills are huge and there's nothing

you can do because you need that

coverage and you need to take care of

yourself because if you don't you're not

gonna live I mean that's it's as scary

as that

[Music]

America has a problem and that means we

the American Cancer Society have a

problem

millions of Americans when they need

cancer care the most either don't have

access to it or as unbelievable as it

sounds

must choose not to get it

lives are being lost

the goals we've set the commitments

we've made we're not going to succeed we

can't unless we can make access to

quality cancer care possible for Reina

and Cathy and the millions of others

facing these difficult circumstances and

even more difficult decisions of course

the irony is this is an historic time in

our fight against cancer

we're seeing cancer incidents and cancer

deaths declining for the first time in

history thanks to new technologies that

can detect cancer earlier than ever

before

innovative therapies that can target and

treat cancer in completely new ways and

voluminous information that can help

people do more to prevent cancer

progress is everywhere and so is hope

that we can save more lives and yet for

47 million Americans today who have no

health insurance

none whatsoever

getting access to life-saving cancer

care can be a virtual impossibility

for them this is where they come for

primary health care

and much too often they come much too

late for cancer to be treated

successfully that's the obvious part of

this dilemma

less obvious is the personal toll this

problem is taking on countless

middle-income Americans working people

with homes families and dreams these

families are facing their own

devastating realities not

having trust immediately was a problem

to me I mean I had no idea how expensive

breast cancer is to have after so long

and they didn't if they didn't receive a

payment or whatever they were turning as

a collection agency

basically on every medical bill that I

have they've turned us into a collection

agency these health care costs are so

enormous I can't you know like I said

when I get the bills in the mail and MRI

was five thousand dollars surgeries

treatments are thousands and thousands

of dollars and if you can't afford that

what do you do here's just one example

this is the annual price of a brand-new

and very effective treatment for colon

cancer if health insurance covers as

much as 70% that still leaves 30,000

dollars a steep price for a family

making fifty sixty or even 70 thousand

dollars a year some simply can't afford

to fight the disease for those who do

fight most exhaust all their savings

that goes first then they find

themselves missing a mortgage payment or

paying their credit card bills a little

late

some families are able to borrow money

from relatives or a bank but eventually

more than 40% find themselves unable to

pay for food or heat

while keeping up with their medical

costs

this isn't right this isn't healthcare

and this certainly isn't fulfilling our

mission to prevent cancer save lives and

diminish suffering from cancer

what are we going to do about it

what we've done for nearly a century

we're going to be a vocal organized and

active

we're going to make certain that

everyone in America is aware of the

problem and

concerned about the consequences and

knows exactly where to turn for answers

and

leadership

American Cancer Society didn't help me I

did talk to some people about my

situation and everything and they did

give me other organizations that I could

contact for other different programs

you know I know I'm going through this

awful terrible time in my life there's

some hope that I can get some help out

there and the American Cancer Society

was absolutely wonderful

[Music]