National Cancer Survivors Day highlights life and death issues

June 4, 2000
Web posted at: 3:53 p.m. EDT (1953 GMT)

In this story: 'Important day' Health care benefits Job discrimination 'Guidance, education and networking' RELATED STORIES, SITES

By CNN.com writer Thom Patterson

ATLANTA (CNN) -- Cancer survivors, their friends and families and health care providers across the United States on Sunday celebrated the 13th annual National Cancer Survivors Day, an event designed to spotlight issues important to millions of current and former cancer patients.

Those issues include employer discrimination against cancer survivors, expanded Medicare benefits for experimental cancer treatments, privacy protection for medical records of cancer survivors and easier access to information on treatments and diagnostic materials.

There are 8.4 million people in the United States who are living with a history of cancer, including both newly diagnosed patients and long-term survivors, according to the National Cancer Survivors Day Foundation (NCSD) Web site.

Joe Piscopo

'Important day'

"This is an important day for me," said comedian and cancer survivor Joe Piscopo Sunday on CNN. "I want to offer my support to other survivors and the people who love them."

Piscopo, a former cast member on NBC's "Saturday Night Live," was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1981. "I never had radiation (therapy) or anything like that," Piscopo said. "The tumor was first diagnosed as benign, and when they cut into it, they found a malignancy." Doctors removed the tumor.

Health care benefits

Dealing with health insurance companies has become a challenge for cancer survivors such as Piscopo. The National Cancer Survivors group complains that firms often deny survivors access to appropriate medical "specialists, tests, treatment and specific facilities, as well as placing limitations on necessary hospital stays."

Piscopo said there's "no justice" when it comes to equal access for quality medical care for cancer patients.

"You can't afford to get your tests done," Piscopo said. "I went in to an insurance company ... I had a wife and kid and everything ... they tripled my premium. They still say if you die of cancer, they aren't covering you. It's a humiliating experience."

Sometimes cancer survivors wish to participate in clinical medical trials for new cancer treatments, which do not qualify for reimbursement by Medicare or their health plans. The cancer group is calling for congressional legislation putting clinical trials under Medicare coverage.

Job discrimination

Cancer survivors are laid off or fired from their jobs five times more often than other employees, according to an unnamed 1996 survey on the group's Web site.

The group works to educate employers who may not be aware that discriminating against cancer survivors is illegal, and survivors who may not fully know their legal rights.

The group also supports the protection of private medical records and "genetic testing information" of cancer patients, which might fall into the hands of unscrupulous employers or insurance companies.

'Guidance, education and networking'

Since 1987, the cancer group has organized celebration ceremonies in cities across the United States on the first Sunday in June. This year, events are expected in some 700 cities and towns, according to the group's Web site. The first group event 13 years ago was organized by Henry Bloch, co-founder of the H&R Block chain of tax return preparation specialists.

According to the site, the cancer group is a nonprofit organization that helps hundreds of hospitals and cancer support groups throughout North America by "providing guidance, education and networking" services.

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