Health care costs for patients with a cancer diagnosis

This opinion letter to the editor is an echo published in the Grand Forks Herald a Minnesota  newspaper.

To the editor,

No one wants to hear the words "you have cancer." 

For some of us, that fear has been realized, for others, we face increased risk. If that day comes, having access to affordable, adequate health coverage may be the difference between life and death.

American Cancer Society research shows individuals who do not have health insurance are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at a later stage when it's costlier to treat and more difficult to survive.

When the health care law was enacted, it established patient protections in health coverage plans to ensure individuals with a health history or those who may be diagnosed in the future don't lose coverage because of their illness. But those protections are now threatened by a proposed rule from Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. The proposal would allow short-term plans to be offered on a more long-term basis. These plans skirt the critical patient protections other health plans must cover. 

Not only does this mean more plans could once again deny people coverage based on their health history, but it could divide the marketplace and that instability could drive up premiums of more comprehensive plans to unaffordable levels.

Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, Sen. John Hoeven, and Rep. Kevin Cramer, we need you to stand up for these critical patient protections, and help ensure cancer patients, survivors and all at risk of developing the disease have access to the health coverage we need. Please urge Secretary Azar to stop this flawed regulation from moving forward to ensure patients don't lose access to affordable, meaningful coverage.

Nicole Streich, Grand Forks, Minnesota