[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22187]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            SAVE CANCER CARE

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                          HON. RUBEN HINOJOSA

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 2003

  Mr. HINOJOSA. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on behalf of cancer patients 
in my district.
  I would like the conferees working to craft a final Medicare 
prescription drug benefit to know what the cancer community in the 15th 
District of Texas is saying.
  Mr. Speaker, the cancer community is united in saying that the deep 
cancer care cuts, in the form of reductions in reimbursements to 
community-based clinics for cancer drugs, will catastrophically 
dismantle the cancer care delivery system we have built in this 
country.
  If passed, the cancer community fears these cuts will turn back the 
clock on cancer care at least 30 years:
  Community-based cancer centers nationwide, where 80 percent of 
patients receive treatment, will be forced to stop seeing Medicare 
patients or close their doors all together.
  This will force cancer patients back into hospitals or large academic 
cancer clinics--and those institutions have said they cannot handle the 
influx of patients.
  Patients in rural America--like in parts of my South Texas District--
will be severely burdened as they will have to travel great distances 
to receive care.
  Family members and friends who would have to accompany a loved one on 
those long trips, would face the economic burden of missing work as 
well as the psychological hurdle of helping someone through treatment, 
if this bill passes in its current form.
  These cancer cuts will not only affect today's treatments, but 
tomorrow's medical cures. That's because more than 60 percent of 
clinical trials of promising cancer treatments occur in the community-
based setting. Without community treatment centers to provide care, 
patient access to clinical trials--and the hope they represent--would 
be significantly curtailed.
  These cuts appeared at a critical time in the war against cancer. 
Just last month the National Cancer Institute reported that mortality 
rates from the four most common types of cancer--breast, colorectal, 
lung and prostate--appear to have declined. That marks eight years in a 
row that cancer deaths have declined. But even with that good news, we 
still face many challenges in the War on Cancer.
  According to the American Cancer Society, 1-in-2 men and 1-in-3 women 
will be diagnosed with cancer at some time in their lives.
  And an estimated 60 percent of new cancer cases are predicted in 
people aged 65 years and older.
  Prescription drug coverage is a noble cause, and one which I hope we 
can provide to seniors. But we cannot provide seniors drug coverage on 
the backs of cancer patients--many of whom are fighting for their 
lives.
  Seniors deserve a Medicare prescription drug bill, not a $16 billion 
cancer care cut.

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