American Cancer Society Pressures Politicians to Reform
The American Cancer Society established a goal to cut cancer death rates by 50 percent between 1990 and 2015, but they found one big obstacle kept getting in their way: too many patients with little or no health insurance.
So the nation’s wealthiest health charity (in both donations and volunteers) decided to modify their strategy. This year, instead of running their customary messages encouraging people to get screened or quit smoking, the ACS is spending $15,000,000 on an advertising campaign encouraging politicians and the public to take action on healthcare reform.
The Society has joined organizations including AARP, the American Diabetes Association, the American Heart Association, the American Medical Association, the Partnership to Fight Chronic Disease, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, and others who want to call attention to the challenges faced by the underinsured in this country.
ACS officials explain that this year’s unusually politicized marketing campaign does not endorse any particular reform plan, presidential candidate, or party. It is simply designed to focus attention on the need for adequate health coverage for every patient. Experts are already predicting government health policies will be a major factor influencing voters during the 2008 elections.
Statistics show that 55,000 of the 1.4 million people diagnosed with cancer each year have no health insurance at all and hundreds of thousands more have inadequate coverage which leaves them struggling with unpaid medical bills or other serious credit issues.
In addition to their prevention and awareness programs, The American Cancer Society conducts a Taking Charge of Money Matters class which educates cancer patients and their families about ways to manage their finances during treatment and recovery. You can find out more by contacting them toll-free at 1-800-ACS-2345.
Source: Associated Press article from jdnews.com
Related Links: U.S. Census Bureau; DividedWeFail.org
Interactive Advertising Bureau; National Coalition on Health Care; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Related Podcast: Understanding Health Care Reform from the Governor of Massachusetts
Tags: advocacy; nonprofit organizations; S-CHIP; Gov Deval Patrick
Print This
|
| Sphere: Related Content
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Browse All Categories: Next article: Creative Cell Biologists Share Communications Award
Previous article: Fighting Cancer with Social Media
