Most Americans Unaware of Cancer Care Cuts in Pending Medicare Bills, National Poll Shows

9/25/2003

From: Donna Doneski of NCCS, 301-562-2767 Jenny Heumann of ASCO, 703-519-1427

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25 -- The overwhelming majority (82 percent) of Americans are unaware that the Medicare prescription drug benefit bills now before Congress contain multi-billion dollar cuts for cancer treatment, and most, once told, expect President Bush to demand those cuts be removed before signing the legislation, according to a new survey released today by two leading national cancer organizations.

Nearly eight out of ten (78 percent) respondents say Congress should remove the cancer care cut provision before the legislation is finalized, the survey of 1,026 adults shows. Three out of five (60 percent) voters surveyed expressed the view that they would prefer Congress pass no drug benefit bill at all rather than one containing the cancer treatment cuts.

"An overwhelming margin of voters prefer that cancer care cuts be removed from the Medicare prescription drug bill," said pollster Kellyanne Conway, president and CEO of The Polling Company, who, along with polling firm StrategyOne, jointly conducted the poll for the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

"The message from the American public is unmistakable -- do not pass prescription drug benefit legislation that includes reduction in Medicare funding on cancer therapies," said ASCO President Dr. Margaret Tempero.

Other key survey findings include:

o 77 percent of those surveyed say they feel "angry and frustrated with Congress" for including such cuts in the legislation;

o 78 percent say that if Congress sends legislation still containing the cancer-treatment cuts to the White House, President Bush should call on Congress to produce a new plan without the cuts.

Both versions of the drug benefit bills -- now in a House-Senate conference to resolve differences -- call for large reductions of up to $16 billion in Medicare's reimbursements for chemotherapy agents and other cancer treatments, explained NCCS President and two-time cancer survivor Ellen Stovall.

NCCS and a dozen other cancer groups sent a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert, calling the cuts "a significant and unprecedented reduction...that will seriously jeopardize patient access to cancer care, especially in rural and low-income communities, as well as to research and clinical trial enrollment."

"The cancer community is united in our opposition to these extreme cuts," ASCO's Dr. Tempero said. "Patients, physicians and nurses who've experienced cancer firsthand are convinced they will lead to massive disruption in access to treatment, including the closing of community cancer treatment centers in every part of the country."

Pollster Conway called the results "a wakeup call for every Congressional incumbent soon to vote on the legislation," adding, "Clearly, no member is going to have an easy time explaining to the voters how he or she ended up voting for a multi-billion dollar cancer-care cut in a bill that's supposedly about creating a new Medicare benefit."

Many Members of Congress, including long-time cancer-care champion U.S. Rep. Charlie Norwood (R-Ga.), are working in Congress to bring balanced reform to reimbursements for cancer drugs. More than 200 Members of Congress have signed letters calling on the Conference Committee charged with resolving the differences between the House and Senate versions of the Medicare prescription drug bill to reform Medicare reimbursements for cancer care so that "access to community-based cancer care will be preserved, as will be so much of the progress America has achieved in its War on Cancer."

"You don't have to be a pollster or mathematician to see that the vast majority of folks don't even know that cancer care cuts are in the Medicare bill... and once they know it, they think it's a bad bill... and they're right," Norwood said. "We in Congress have to ensure that the voice of the people is heard and that the cancer care cuts are removed from the Medicare bill being considered in conference."

The nationwide telephone survey of 1,026 Americans age 18 and older was conducted from Sept. 5-9, and has a margin-of-error of plus/minus 3.1 percent at a 95 percent confidence level.