U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee - Larry E. Craig, Chairman - Jade West, Staff Director
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July 13, 1999

The Kennedy Bill Would Lead to More Cancer Fatalities

Last week President Clinton warned that the fate of patients' rights legislation will determine "whether some people live or some people die." He's right. If the Senate approves the Kennedy bill (S. 6), many more Americans may die unnecessarily from cancer and other diseases.

cancerchart.jpg
Sources: CBO, Barents Group, Employee Benefits Research Institute, Centers for Disease Control

CANCER SCREENING EXAMS CANCELLED BY S. 6, FIVE-YEAR IMPACT

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2000-04
Breast Exams 188,595 188,595 188,595 188,595 188,595 942,976
Mammograms 52,973 52,973 52,973 52,973 52,973 264,866
Pelvic Exams 237,804 237,804 237,804 237,804 237,804 1,189,018
Skin Cancer Exams 439,067 439,067 439,067 439,067 439,067 2,195,335
Pap Smears 135,122 135,122 135,122 135,122 135,122 675,612
Prostate Exams 23,135 23,135 23,135 23,135 23,135 115,673
Sources: CBO, Barents Group, Employee Benefits Research Institute, Centers for Disease Control

Prostate cancer. Cervical cancer. Ovarian cancer. Uterine cancer. Breast cancer. Skin cancer. Because the Kennedy bill would cause 1.9 million Americans to lose their insurance, these people will be stripped of coverage for early-detection tests and other exams, and so more cases of cancer will go undiagnosed. Perhaps thousands will unnecessarily lose years of their lives because the Kennedy bill made health care coverage too expensive.

In contrast, the Republican "Patients' Bill of Rights Plus Act" (S. 300) honors the Hippocratic maxim, "First, do no harm." The Republican bill protects patients while increasing premiums less than 1 percent (CBO).

More importantly, the Republican bill's medical savings account (MSA) expansion and full deductibility for the self-employed will make coverage more affordable for millions. According to the General Accounting Office, 37 percent of participants in the limited MSA pilot program were previously uninsured.

(Sources: The CBO estimates S. 6 would increase private health insurance premiums an average of 6.1 percent. Data from the Barents Group, an economic forecasting firm, indicate this would cause 1.9 million Americans to lose coverage. This is consistent with a Lewin Group study commissioned by the AFL-CIO, which indicates the Kennedy bill would cause 1.8 million Americans to lose coverage. According to the Employee Benefits Research Institute, that is more than one out of every hundred non-elderly Americans with private coverage. The Centers for Disease Control collect data on various tests paid for by private health insurance.)

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