Thousands of breast cancer patients on Medicaid could lose access to health care following the Senate鈥檚 passage Tuesday of President Donald Trump鈥檚 鈥淏ig Beautiful Bill.鈥� The measure is now headed to the House.
warns the reductions will 鈥渕ake it harder for many people to receive preventive services and cancer screenings, cancer treatments and health care in survivorship.鈥�
鈥淚 believe that people are going to die,鈥� said Dr. Rachel Greenup, chief of breast surgery at Yale鈥檚 Smilow Cancer Hospital.
U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy said on social media the bill 鈥渒icks off of their health care. There鈥檚 going to be thousands of people who die in this country because they lose their access to health care.鈥�
Under the bill, The Congressional Budget Office said nearly 12 million more Americans would become uninsured by 2034.
The White House is pushing back on criticisms of the bill, calling it 鈥�.鈥�
But in a letter to ranking Senate leaders, researchers at Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania warn the cuts will lead to the loss of more than .
The researchers attribute the potential spike in preventable deaths to Medicaid disenrollments, loss of marketplace coverage, rollback on nursing home staffing rules and the expiration of tax credits in the Affordable Care Act.
Despite the potential cuts to Medicaid, Greenup assured patients there are financial assistance programs available.
鈥淭here are also wonderful programs outside the hospital that will help pay for rent, electricity, gas, [and even] cleaning services to help mothers when they're sick from chemotherapy,鈥� she said.
Greenup said with good treatment, these working-age individuals could ideally get back into the workforce and back to their normal lives.
'A lifeline for me'
Six years ago, at the age of 33, Deltra James, who is Black, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer 鈥� stage 4, triple negative breast cancer.
Black women are 40% more likely to die from all types of breast cancer compared to white women. That鈥檚 despite being diagnosed with breast cancer at similar rates, according to a recent study . The findings point toward racial disparities, not biology, driving the differences in cancer death rates.
鈥淭he intersection of being a Black woman, a young woman, and having triple negative breast cancer does place women at extra-high risk of having financial hardship as well as poor mortality,鈥� Greenup said. 鈥淭here's great data [showing] that when any cancer patient experiences extreme financial hardship, they are at a higher risk of cancer death than those who do not.鈥�
While James sought treatment at Smilow for her cancer, Greenup said oncologists see women avoiding recommended therapies, or cutting back on expensive life-extending immunotherapies for cancers like triple negative breast cancer.
鈥淸The treatments are] extraordinarily costly, especially for people who need to be on those drugs long term,鈥� Greenup said.
鈥淧atients who lack employer-sponsored health care, have high-deductible insurance plans, or are not yet eligible for Medicare can fall through the gaps, were it not for Medicaid,鈥� she said.
James, who said she had no family history of breast cancer, credited Medicaid as being a 鈥渓ifeline for me, a saving grace.鈥�
鈥淲hen I had to have a lumpectomy or the treatments 鈥� the infusions that I鈥檝e had to sit and endure, and everytime I鈥檓 in that chair, the thousands of dollars that it costs. I had other things to think of, like child care,鈥� she said.
An advocate for change
As potential Medicaid cuts loom, James and Greenup are now working together to save lives by promoting financial awareness.
The pair have collaborated on a video to educate breast cancer patients on available resources and to reassure women that help is available 鈥� if they ask.
鈥淚ndividuals don't ask for financial support because, number one, they're so focused on survival,鈥� Greenup said. 鈥淭hey want to take the treatment their doctor recommends. And there is a cohort of patients that worry if they can't afford care, they might not get care, and that's based on historical and justifiable mistrust from the health care system.鈥�
鈥淪o we are working to empower individuals going through cancer treatment to be part of the solution by early outreach and support,鈥� she said.
In the video, breast cancer patients talk about financial distress.
鈥淐ancer is so expensive, it breaks you,鈥� one patient said. 鈥淔ood, buying clothes, if you have children, you have to have to pay for them. Rent, utilities, everything becomes so difficult mentally to deal with. How am I going to pay these bills? I can鈥檛 work.鈥�
James said she will take her outreach about help available to cancer patients to churches and hair salons.
鈥淭hat is a very common place, especially for my community, Black women, because we are there every two weeks,鈥� she said. 鈥淗aving conversations since my diagnosis [has] been important to me, like sharing within my own family and being really open.
鈥淭hat's a big part of takeaway [from the video],鈥� James said. 鈥淭he shame of diagnosis and the shame of struggling and saying, 鈥楬ey, I really need help.鈥欌��
