Cancer Treatment Centers of America

Every time Cancer Treatment Centers of America airs one of their syrupy commercials, I have to take a walk until I calm down.  I've taken to calling the outfit, "Cancer Club for Rich People."

You have to fork over at least 150k before they'll even see you, and that's if you have Medicare or insurance.  People in my life can't afford that.  Nor can they afford the Pink Lotus Clinic or the "red carpet" care they boast and where Angelina Jolie recently received cancer preventative treatment.  To Pink Lotus's credit they do have a philanthropic program that makes them accessible to a few low-income and uninsured women.  The problem is these women can't afford the test that informed Jolie she was at risk.  By the time these women reach out to Pink Lotus, they're usually already threatened with dying.

It's impossible for me to not compare Jolie's story with my cousin Annie who was recently diagnosed with cancer.  Annie isn't getting the "red carpet."  Annie is uninsured.  And, she didn't qualify for Iowa Care (barely) until her recent diagnosis.  Doctors tell her she has about two years to live with chemo and only a year without it.  She's taking the chemo.  They also tell her she'd have had longer if her cancer had been detected sooner. She's had symptoms for quite a while now, but was hoping they'd "just go away" because seeing a doctor was so cost prohibitive. 

"What if I'm well, and I'm stuck with this bill I can't pay?" she'd tell us.

Most people who are uninsured do this.  The odds are with you.  But sometimes you lose the odds.  Iowa Cares (Iowa's indigent healthcare program, which really only sort of cares) requires patients be treated in only two locations, Broadlawns in Des Moines or UI Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City. The residence of the patient determines at which place one can be treated. 

For Annie, this is Iowa City, about a 90-minute drive each way from her home.  I'm given to understand that riding in a car for 90 minutes after chemo is not a "red carpet" experience.  There used to be a free shuttle that would take poor people to their appointments.  I remember people who'd recently had surgery or had a bone fracture traveling in the van with me when I went to appointments.  Some would only grimace.  Some wear be tearful and moan on the trip which took a minimum of four hours because patients were being picked up in a myriad of towns.  However, as miserable as the ride could be, you could get there for treatment.  The 50-year-old service was cut in November.  I was told you can save a lot on Iowa Cares if you discourage people from using it.  So, Annie also has to find the money to get to Iowa City.

Annie and I disagree about a bunch of theological issues.  Annie believes in a literal hell.  I don't.  However, Annie and I do agree that we love each deeply, and we don't want her to die.  She's only in her 50s and has children, grandchildren, and a passel of nieces and nephews who need her.  (Her younger sister died a few years ago due, in no small part, due to inadequate healthcare too.)  So, I find myself admitting it, I might be okay with a literal hell if it had a special place in it for those who let people suffer and die because they can't afford healthcare, places like the entire Heath Insurance Industry, the Cancer Treatment Center for America, and almost everyone in Congress.

As for those who tell me it's unseemly to talk about personal struggles like this in public.  I just want them to leave the grown-up table. 

For some reading entertainment, check out what Yelp has on Cancer Institute of America from people who aren't rich.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/cancer-treatment-centers-of-america-goodyear