Cancer patients need ACA to stay

By Pamela Witzel, Las Vegas

Wednesday, March 1, 2017 | 2 a.m.

I am a volunteer in a leadership role with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. In that role, I work with numerous individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer and are undergoing treatment.

Many of these people who did not have insurance thought they were uninsurable. Others who had insurance through their employer knew that if they lost their job or wanted to make a life change, they were jeopardizing their chances of affordable, quality health coverage.

Then the Affordable Care Act was enacted and patient protections were put into place. These people could not be denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition. They did not have to worry about arbitrary lifetime limits or annual caps on their coverage if they got sick again. For the first time, people with cancer, or those at risk of getting cancer, had access to affordable, meaningful coverage.

As an American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network volunteer, I know we can’t afford to return to a time when cancer patients and their families don’t have reliable access to health insurance.

I am grateful there is a bipartisan consensus to maintain these crucial patient protections, but if Congress moves to repeal the law without an adequate and immediate replacement, the health care market could collapse, leaving vulnerable people with gaps in coverage.

Sen. Dean Heller, please don’t repeal the Affordable Care Act without a replacement. We must guarantee uninterrupted, meaningful health insurance coverage for everyone facing cancer.