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Forget the Politics and Remember Us

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Last night, President Obama stood before the nation and delivered his State of the Union address. We were delighted to see him deliver a clear message to Congress saying, “I will not walk away from these Americans and neither should the people in this chamber…Let’s get it done.?

Despite those strong words, the reality is that we are in serious danger of losing a once-in-a-generation chance to achieve real health care reform. The situation couldn?t be more urgent, and we need your help to send a strong message to Congress: Do not give up on health care reform. Will you join us and send your elected officials a clear message to keep up the fight?

You could not write fiction more dramatic than what we have seen over the last week. On January 18, one state elected a Senator and we are being told that may reset the entire healthcare reform effort. We must be clear in saying to our elected officials: You must not give up. We are counting on you.

Just the other day I heard a story about a man named Ruben, who has been fighting cancer off and on for 11 years. This year, he lost his job. His cancer, which had been stable, became active again and he has had to go back on treatment. His doctor prescribed two new chemotherapy drugs to combat the cancer. But last week, Ruben had to tell his pharmacist, ?No, don?t fill that prescription. I can?t afford it.?

Unfortunately, Ruben is not alone. We all hear these stories far too often or have our own version to share. That is why it is more important than ever that we send a strong message to Washington: Forget politics and remember Ruben.

It only takes a moment to share this message with your elected officials, to tell them, as the President said last night: “Don’t walk away. Not now. Finish the job for the American people.”

As someone who has been touched by cancer, you know firsthand how critical it is to have dependable, quality health care. It can be the difference between life and death. Let?s not let this once-in-a-generation opportunity pass us by.

Please visit www.livestrong.org/takeaction2010 and take action today.

  • http://www.healthcarefilmproject.com Ralph Helm

    Amen, amen and AMEN! The debate for far too long has been about politics, money and misinformation. We need to get back to talking about who reform REALLY affects: everyday people. We shot a series of four short films back in October with that very mission (http://www.healthcarefilmproject.com). Our hope is to raise awareness that rhetoric and talking points have gotten us nowhere, and people’s very lives are being deeply impacted the longer and longer this debate rages on. Thank you so much, LIVESTRONG, for taking a stand and advocating for cancer patients, survivors and their families (actually, 2 of our 4 films deal with families impacted by cancer). Keep up the great work!

  • Adina Raye

    My uncle is 55 years old. He’s a good Kansas man, married for 35 years, 2 grown children and several grandchildren. For 20 years he worked at the zoo in Great Bend, Kansas. After a career change to become a massage therapist, he unfortunately had to go w/o insurance for a while – for it was too expensive. Then he and my aunt moved to Colorado, where she was a teacher. While waiting to be added to her insurance – had to wait for the open enrollment period in November, he became ill – it was Jan/Feb last year. Since he did not have insurance it was quite difficult to find anyone who would look at him. He was finally diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in May 2009. We have watched this man we call Superman lose a tremendous amount of energy and weight. He went from probably being the strongest man in our family to the weakest – over night! I struggle to type because I can’t stop crying. It’s not right that he was unable to get care for his cancer in time to fight it. While he eventually was given some pain medication and some forms of chemotherapy, watching the medical bills pile up has added a tremendous amount of stress to their family. We pray for him everyday.

    He is currently receiving Vitamin C infusions to help tackle the cancer. He quit taking the chemo because it was just making him so sick he couldn’t stand it. The Vitamin C is helping, but he continues to fight every day.

    We need help in passing legislation that will not allow this to happen to anyone in our country. He does not deserve to be going thru so much pain. They have found cures for other forms of cancer, the “sexy” cancers – but no one seems to care about pancreatic cancer, the hardest there is to cure. Not only to we need to not deny people coverage, we need to do more research to help fight these diseases.

    Thank you for all you do,
    Adina

  • Tammye Lewis

    I know how Ruben feels. My husband lost his job in August so our health insurance went to. I had to cancel my cancer check up because we could not afford it. Now our new insurance (thanks blue cross blue shield of texas) is denying all claims do to the “pre-existing” clause. Yet we had insurance for over four years straight. And we are being told that it will be September before any claims will be covered for “pre-existing” conditions. On the 19th of this month was my one year mark from surgery. I have only been lucky enough to make two check ups and now it will be September before I can get checked again. Am I still cancer free? Your guess is as good as mine. I think insurance companies should continue to cover things like cancer until new insurance picks up on it.

  • Jeff Anderson

    You have just made the LIVESTRONG a political issue on your left leaning social agenda. My father was a doctor for 50 years and my mother passed away 5 years ago with cancer and my yellow wrist band is coming off for the first time in five years. If you want put Obama?s agenda and social agenda ahead of what actually is required to make cost effective improvements to a great healthcare system do it with another political group. I hope Lance realizes what his efforts to fight cancer are now turning into. I am sure my friends and colleagues will mirror my actions as we will funnel our funds to efforts that go directly to a cause we believe in and doesn?t push an outside agenda.

    Let?s finally educate Americans what the healthcare systems are really like for the middle class in Canada and other countries. Ever wait 6 months for a CAT scan and other straight forward tests and procedures.

  • http://livestrong.org Brooke McMillan (LAF Staff)

    Jeff-
    LIVESTRONG advocates for people affected by cancer. Ending unethical practices by insurers and creating quality, affordable health care for all Americans is something we support. Our current health care system is broken. Too many of us face suffering, financial ruin and death because of a lack of access to medical and preventive care. The status quo is not acceptable. We support continuing the important work begun on health care reform now.

  • Dave

    We do need to fix the problems in our healthcare system. But throwing it all away is overboard. Do you trust this government to run it? I don’t. Fix the problems, don’t trash it and create new ones. I can’t disagree any more with this post. Not only from a political stand but even to bring this discussion to this group. This healthcare package is a disaster!

  • Joan

    I was very offended to receive a Livestrong email asking me to “leave politics behind” and support the Democrat’s push to take over 1/6th of the US economy. This email should have been more accurately entitled “leave CONSERVATIVE politics behind.” This politicized what should be an effort to support research to cure a deadly disease, not an excuse to push a socialized agenda. My husband and I are team leaders for a Relay for Life fund raising event, but I will not support Livestrong ever again.

  • Randy

    The health care bills passed in the House and Senate are not a total revamping of the system. People have become so misinformed. Too politicized, instead of humanized. Time to get back to real American Values instead of that which favors corporations and the wealthy.

  • Robert Gregg

    Forget politics?

    Are you kidding?
    Then why does the Lance Armstrong Foundation get political for the sake of change without knowing what the change will bring?
    I’ve read the health care reform bills passed by the House and the Senate and what they propose is frightening, to not just cancer patients, but to all of us.
    Do we really want the government in charge of whether we live or die?
    Change is needed, but not change for the sake of change. We need to be sure it is change for the better.
    There are better ways to handle health care reform than what the president is suggesting.
    He has refused to listen to other ideas on reform and has become stubborn, almost obstinate, in his version of health care.
    If we are going to have reform let’s get everyone’s ideas.
    Let’s not through the baby away with the bath water.
    We have some excellent attributes in our current system.
    A system that has saved many cancer patients, including people close to me.
    We ought to be damn sure we know what the effect of the change is before we do it, and we ought to keep the government out of it.
    I do not oppose a charity I support getting political, but to just openly support one party’s ambition without looking at the details angers me. There will be no more donations to your organization until it suggests a better health care system with all parties involved over one man?s socialist ambitions being satisfied.
    There is a reason the general public in this country is opposed to the current proposed change.
    It doesn’t make sense.

    Bob

  • Jeff

    With all due respect, I have supported LIVESTRONG and its fight against cancer from nearly the beginning, but I have a real problem with the last email. I do not think it is necessary or prefereable to tie the fight against cancer into Obama’s healthcare reform bill. In fact, I believe the health care bill would result in a lower standard of care, less research and development, and longer wait times to see doctors. All of this would harm anyone fighting cancer. The suggestion that anyone is “walking away” from sick Americans because they do not support the current health care reform bill is absurd. There are better ways to increase coverage and care and keep down costs. While you ask everyone to “forget politics”, the entire message of the email is political and will only hurt your cause with the majority of Americans who disagree with Obama’s approach to healthcare reform. If LIVESTRONG has decided to abandon its goal of raising money and awareness to help fight cancer and has now chosen to be a political action committee, please remove my name and email from the list of members. This is truly a sad day.

    • http://livestrong.org Brooke McMillan (LAF Staff)

      Jeff- we are a nonpartisan organization as cancer knows no party lines. We support people affected by this disease and we believe everyone deserves access to quality care. We appreciate your support and hope that you continue dialog with us on this subject and on others.

  • http://gint32.blogspot.com Matt McGinty

    As a proud LiveSTRONG Leader and a Mass Resident, I feel the need to weigh in here. I won’t get into who I voted for and why, because I think that will distract away from the point here. I tend to be fiscally conservative and somewhat socially liberal on several topics; I’m a true independent and that’s all I say. More importantly though, we all support LAF because of their advocacy in the cancer community. That’s their responsibility and that’s what I read in this post! Like many here on this thread and throughout the country, I am angry about how inept and corrupt our politicians are…ALL of them on BOTH sides. But again, let’s not politicize this and I don’t think that was the intention of the post either. The heart of this post is that something needs to be done about healthcare, period. I have very different ideas about how to do that compared to what I have seen in the past few months, but again, that’s the point here. Let’s reach out to our leaders and share those ideas with vigor. Let’s not let the fight die all together. Doug said the same thing in his post. It’s not about the “how” as much as the “what”. When people have their care refused or canceled because they have cancer or have had cancer, there is a problem. Plain and simple. Again, this is coming from a guy who generally disagrees with how the previous bill was written and executed. But one thing is clear, I couldn’t feel stronger that it needs to be addressed! I’ll continue to share my ideas and fight for the cause and the LiveSTRONG mission!

    So…let’s focus on the heart of this post and Doug’s previous post. Let’s keep the attention on this issue as cancer warriors! Let’s share ideas whether they be republican, democrat or independent ideas. Because ultimately…cancer doesn’t give a crap about who we vote for on election day. Let’s unite behind the cause because unity is strength!

    LiveSTRONG!
    -Matt

  • Erica Brown

    All:

    Lets take a step back and put this all into perspective. Lets think about all of the people in our lives that we have lost from cancer; that we have watched suffer; that we have watched try to make ends meet and decide between food or their $1500/weekly medication for nausea. Lets all remember that cancer does not care who we are, where we are from, what our circumstances are, if we go to church, if we are a “D” or an “R” – CANCER DOES NOT CARE. Lets not think about this in terms of liberal vs. conservatives – because cancer doesn’t, so why throw out references to this being a political issue – it isn’t. It is a human issue.

    Nobody is saying the legislation (in either the House or the Senate) is perfect or is exactlly what will fix the incredibly broken system we have. What I advocate for as a LIVESTRONG Army leader is everyone – regardless of their circumstances in life (because who am I to judge), deserves access to quality, affordable health care. We can’t afford to do nothing – too many people are dying from this disease and our economy is in ruins because of the incredible costs of health care.

    I had to go through the system as a primary caregiver at the age of 23. Today – I am not married because of cancer..I don’t have children today because of cancer. My fiance died when he was 25 and I had nothing left because we spent so much on trying to fight this disease.

    Lets not point fingers or make an incredible organization like the Lance Armstrong Foundation out to be the bad guy. I personally feel forever indebted to Lance, the staff at the LAF and the incredible advocates across the state and world taking a stand for this community. If they don’t – who will?

    Please don’t diminish the discussion to a game of politics – as a community we are better than that.

  • Joe

    I think what the LAF is trying to say is that it is truly sad to see such an important issue as medical care become so politicized. No one and I mean no one should die because they cannot afford coverage. Yet it happens every single day.

    I hear over and over that health care reform is a bad thing. Can someone at least acknowledge that the current system is flawed? It is killing people and will continue to kill people until it is fixed. It is unstable and unjust and until we change it, countless lives will be lost.

    The Lance Armstrong Foundation is looking at this from the cancer community perspective. Their duty is to advocate for us. We survivors and supporters lobby our representatives for issues that are important to us. It has nothing to do with the party involved. It has to do with doing the right thing for cancer patients, survivors, etc..

    Would the current reform plan be perfect? Probably not, would it be better that the current situation? Yes. It certainly would help those facing cancer with no insurance and those with pre-existing conditions. I myself am unable to get affordable health insurance because I had AND beat cancer 16 years ago! 16 years. I find it depressing that I am in better shape/health than the majority of America, but I have to be on my wife’s corporate insurance to get affordable coverage.

    Let’s not make LAF out to be this big political machine. They are truly making a difference in people’s lives.

  • Joe

    Does Livestrong have a set of principles to guide their position in the legislative mess that we call health care reform? In other words, is there a list of 3 or 4 core goals that the foundation believes will help families fight cancer?

    If so, I’d like to know what they are so that I can express my support for those and judge any proposed bill according to those core goals.

    I think it’s pretty clear that Livestrong supporters are not united in support of what’s being proposed right now.

  • http://www.facebook.com/rica.mendes Rica

    Folks, I think there is a HUGE difference between picking a political party to side with and taking a stance of an issue. Nowhere is LIVESTRONG saying “vote Democrat”. I’m quite certain that if it were George W. Bush who had said, in the State of the Union, ?I will not walk away from these Americans and neither should the people in this chamber?Let?s get it done,? Doug and LIVESTRONG would have been equally thrilled.

    And, Jeff, I do recall seeing plenty of footage of Lance biking with George W. Bush. So I would hardly say that he’s anti-Republican. ;)

    Yes, other systems are broken. Believe me – I “follow” a couple of Canadian cancer patients, one of whom is not getting the kind of treatment that she should, IMHO, because of the system. But, at no point, has the administration said, “Let’s mirror exactly what is being done in other countries, flaws and all.” I would hope, and imagine, that as this plan is being put together, effort will be made so that the system we end up with will not have the same pitfalls as other countries, like Canada and Ireland that have government supported healthcare systems.

    You do realize, (per WikiPedia, and if it’s on the internet, it must be true), that “The United States is the only industrialized nation that does not have a universal health care system”? Is that because we are so much wiser than our peers? Or a bit behind the times?

    Again, there is no such thing as a perfect healthcare system. But how can ANY of us, rightfully, stand and say that what we have, right now, works?

    An attempt to come together, regardless of political affiliation, to rectify a very broken system has to be done.

    LIVESTRONG’s political affiliation is simple. It’s not Democrat. It’s not Republican. It’s backing whoever is doing the most for the people it supports.

    Forgive me for saying this, but to remove your wristband because LIVESTRONG supports a position that is shared and driven by the current President, who happens to be a Democrat, is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

    Let the dust settle, and feathers unruffle before you make such a move.

  • Doug

    The president’s healthcare plan is nothing if not political. If he truly wants meaningful reform, he should start from scratch and involve the other party and listen to the American people. Your email indicates your political bias and thereby risks alienating a large portion of donors, participants, etc. from supporting your organization. I have supported the MS150 for the past 4 years. They openly advocated for the current healthcare reform. I will no longer support them. I had hoped to participate in the Livestrong Challenge this year but do not plan to do so after receiving your email.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Scott-Joy/1012283 Scott Joy

    I thank the good people at LIVESTRONG for continuing to stress that too many Americans struggle to obtain quality, affordable health care ? and we need to change that.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Scott-Joy/1012283 Scott Joy

    Joe asked, “[I]s there a list of 3 or 4 core goals that the foundation believes will help families fight cancer?”

    A recent LIVESTRONGpetition asked Congress to ensure the needs of cancer survivors are addressed in health care reform by supporting two key principles:

    No American should be denied health insurance coverage because of pre-existing conditions.
    No American should lose their coverage due to changes in health or employment.

  • Aaron

    I received that same email, and was completely blown away. I am 29 years old, and a 23 year cancer survivor. I agree there needs to be reform, but not this reform President Obama, and the democrats have come up with. My problem is that I certainly did not think I would be getting an email from an organization that I support with the yellow wristband, and the Nike apparel pushing for this reform. Sounds political to me.

  • C Thomas

    I cannot believe you turned finding a cure for cancer into a political issue. The current health care legislature is a mish mash of items thrown together into over 2000 pages, that do not remotely address the problems that should be corrected in the health care industry. It contains special favors for legislators, lobbyists and the health insurance industry instead of truly reforming health care.

    I am disappointed to receive the email and have asked to unsubscribe to LAF. My husband will also be removing his yellow wristband and no more contributions from our family. We will find another organization.

  • Joe

    Health Care needs to be reformed, but not what has been proposed and passed in the House and Senate..even then…they needed to BRIBE Senators to vote for it!! My advice to LIVESTRONG is to stay focused on your core values….and leave politics alone!! Don’t send me any further email to support your POLITICAL views.

  • Peter Foster

    Yeah, that’s right. Take a sledge hammer and bludgeon the health care system, burden the taxpayers and maybe out the other end we may improve healthcare. NO!
    Take a few simple steps that will increase competiton and lower costs (eg) buy insurance across state lines and eliminate pre-exisiting condition restrictions,publish healthcare costs so people can shop around. The rest you can shove.
    And don’t let me even start on the sweetheart deals: unions, Nebraska, etc.
    Lovin’ that transparency.

  • China Gates

    Brooke McMillan(LAF staff)said:
    “On January 18, one state elected a Senator and we are being told that may reset the entire healthcare reform effort. We must be clear in saying to our elected officials: You must not give up. We are counting on you.”
    I read this for what it says, and it is a support call for the existing “reform bill”. I ask “Have you read the bill?”
    RESET is precisely what is necessary, and what LAF should be calling for, had there been a knowledge of the contents of the bill(s), and no political bias towards the social agenda that the bill(s)are chock-full of.
    LAF spokespeople must drop the social change agenda. Support cancer research, cure and support, stay right out of the “Fundamental transformation of America” that Obama threatened the country with.
    No-one has said healthcare need not be improved, made more accessable or has turned their back on the American public. But don’t support a vast conglomeration of social agenda restructuring unless you are willing to pay the price for (perhaps, or pehaps not) getting attention for one needed reform.

  • http://www.twitter.com/livestrongnj Rich Ehrmann

    I agree with Matt, we need to be uniting behind the cause. Our focus should be neither the political differences that we have nor the specific views of one political party. We lose one American per minute to cancer-a disease that knows no party lines.
    The LAF always talks about the cancer continuum:
    Prevention,Early Detection,Access to care.
    Research, Survivorship as the pillars to fight this disease.

    I learned, after the 2008 Livestrong Summit, what “Vote Yellow” means. 1. n. An expression of choice made by 12 million cancer survivors and their loved ones. 2. v. To declare one’s opinion that our leaders should make cancer a national priority.

    Let us continue on this path, to keep cancer a national priority; to eliminate discrimination against individuals because of pre existing conditions. To eliminate any annual or lifetime limits on coverage and that insurers should not have the right to cancel the policy because of a change in your health or employment.

    These are the changes that I would like to see, that Katherine spoke about in the last “ask livestrong” video and what we as livestrong advocates support. It makes no difference to me what party does this, be it Democrats, Republicans or a joint effort. Let’s bring the focus back to what is needed: Health care reform.

    LIVESTRONG

    Rich

  • Lynne

    I too am very concerned about the email that was sent out that encouraged us to call our representatives about the current health care bill. It seems very politically driven. I do not support the current bill that is on the table at all. I support the reform of health insurance, but your email gives the impression that you want the current bill passed now for it took so long for us to get to this point. Even the video you have posted to answer questions still supports pushing this legeslation through without any regard to the horrible consequences should our government have control of the health care system. I think you are walking on eggshells and need to be more clear in what it is you are supporting are you are going to lose a lot of supporters of your organization.

  • Laura

    My dad formed a team for the Livestrong challenges a few years back and together they have raised over $45,000. Simply put, because of the email he received he is disbanding the team and will no longer support the foundation. How sad that such a great thing had to be politicized. This year we were on track to raise over $30,000 alone. He had big fundraisers planned, and plenty of people in line to help. Don’t you realize that by sending out a political email you are potentially cutting out at least 45% of your supporters? My dad is searching for a different, non-political foundation to throw his support behind. That certainly won’t help in your particular fight against cancer. How sad.