Right now, cancer patients across the country are abandoning their treatments, skipping doses, or going into ruinous debt because of sky-high out-of-pocket costs. They're walking away from pharmacy counters, unable to fill their prescription. They're using their entire life's savings just to stay alive.
Our lawmakers have the power to change this by requiring that insurance companies treat all forms of anti-cancer treatment fairly. While patients can expect a doctor's visit co-pay when they are prescribed traditional I.V. chemotherapy, those who rely on anti-cancer treatment in pill form are often faced with significantly higher costs – sometimes thousands of dollars for just a one-month prescription. And as more and more anti-cancer drugs are approved in pill form, the problem is growing. Countless cancer patients need relief from outrageous costs, and they need it now.
But our nation's leaders have yet to take action to ensure that all anti-cancer treatments are covered fairly by insurance plans. To date, 42 state legislatures have passed oral parity laws to resolve this issue, but state laws only cover a limited number of insurance plans and other patients are still in desperate need of help.
Federal leaders – including the next president – need to keep this momentum going and pass a federal oral parity law to bring relief to the countless cancer patients and their families who are still struggling with extreme out-of-pocket costs. Join The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by signing our petition and demanding that presidential candidates and members of the House and Senate commit to correcting this inequity and to passing a federal oral parity law in the next Congress.
To our nation's leaders:
I am a person who believes that all cancer patients should have access to the treatment that their doctors recommend, no matter what form it takes. While cancer patients can expect a doctor's visit co-pay when they are prescribed traditional I.V. chemotherapy, those who rely on treatment in pill form are often faced with significantly higher costs – sometimes thousands of dollars for just a one-month prescription. This issue is deeply important to me and my loved ones. As a leader, you have an opportunity to bring relief to the countless cancer patients across the country struggling with covering extreme out-of-pocket costs.
Join me in standing with cancer patients and commit to correcting this inequity and to passing a federal oral parity law in the next Congress to ensure that patients can get the lifesaving treatments they desperately need.
[Your comment here]
Sincerely,
[Your name here]
