Letter: Thanks for action Dorgan, Conrad and Pomeroy

Talk about it

As a caregiver to my late husband and surviving son and someone very involved in the fight to make cancer history, I want to take a moment to applaud Sens. Dorgan and Conrad and Congressman Pomeroy, for taking action on health care reform that will make significant improvements in the lives of cancer patients.

Health reform measures that were recently signed into law guarantee that people will no longer be denied coverage for having a pre-existing medical condition, like cancer. There will be an increased focus on disease prevention, such as by waiving co-pays for cancer screenings. (Did you know that 60 percent of cancer deaths are preventable?) This reform, once enacted, will improve the quality of life for many patients with chronic diseases with an investment in pain management and education.

These are the facts that the public needs to hear. Cancer doesn’t care about your political persuasion. With one in three women and 50 percent of men facing a cancer diagnosis every year, the undeniable fact is that most of us have been affected by cancer in some way. Pieces of this legislation would, therefore, make a significant improvement in most of our lives, or the life of someone close to us.

Without the reforms that will be enacted, families would continue to have to make tough choices between saving their lives or their life savings. And many average middle class families would remain one cancer diagnosis away from potential financial ruin.

As a good friend of mine who is a cancer survivor has so aptly stated, “I will be an insurable person again some day soon, for the first time in 32 years.” That alone is worth thanking our senators and congressman for their courageous actions.

Bev Berger, Richardton

Tags: bev berger, opinion, letters