Cancer patients head to Frankfort to speak with lawmakers

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WTVQ) –Cancer patients, survivors and caregivers from across Kentucky traveled to the State Capitol in Frankfort Thursday and met with lawmakers about the need to improve quality of life for cancer patients and others with serious illness, by establishing a state advisory council to support access to patient-centered and family-focused palliative care.

The visit was part of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s annual Day at the Capitol, an event to bring people affected by cancer together to call on Kentucky’s legislature to make cancer a priority. Throughout the day, volunteers signed an “I am more than my cancer” poster that was presented to legislators.

Palliative care is specialized medical care for people with serious illnesses, and is focused on providing patients with relief from the stress and other symptoms that come along with a diagnosis such as cancer. It is appropriate at any age and for any stage of a disease. Palliative care can also lead to a more efficient health care system by decreasing costs without reducing the services patients receive.

“When it comes to a serious illness, there’s only so much one person can do which is why it’s vital that patients have a team of professionals coordinating care that treats the patient and not just the disease,” said Pam Pilgrim, Kentucky’s lead volunteer for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) from Campton. “Palliative care sees the person beyond the cancer treatment. It’s a big shift in focus for health care delivery—and it works.”

Research shows that early palliative care provided alongside cancer treatment results in patients living longer and that patients benefitting from hospital-based palliative care spend less time in intensive care units and are less likely to be readmitted to the hospital after being discharged. However, not all patients battling chronic diseases like cancer have access to this type of care.

“As I lay flat in my bed the first night home from the hospital, I had a tremendous pain in my chest so bad that I just cried until I had enough strength to roll out of bed and figure out what to do. I didn’t know not to lay flat and had to sleep in a chair for weeks,” said Joe Geraci, a lung cancer survivor and ACS CAN volunteer from Edgewood. “The medical profession has made great process in helping cure diseases and injuries over the past years and I thank them but I wish palliative care had been available to folks like me so I would have known what to expect.”

Palliative care has been proven to reduce costs for patients and health systems when provided alongside disease-focused treatment in hospitals. According to a 2016 study, giving cancer patients a palliative care consultation within the first two days of being admitted to the hospital reduced costs 22 to 32 percent. Other studies have confirmed these cost savings, including one of New York state hospitals which showed an average savings of $6,900 per Medicaid patient when palliative care was provided. The study also showed that New York’s Medicaid program could save between $84 million and $252 million per year if palliative care was provided to two to six percent of Medicaid patients who were determined to be in need of it. The study also estimated that academic medical centers could save more than $2.5 million per year.

In addition to discussing the benefits and cost savings of palliative care, volunteers spoke with lawmakers about the need to establish strong tobacco control policies including barrier-free tobacco cessation coverage.

This year, 26,220 will be diagnosed with cancer in Kentucky, and an estimated 10,400 will die from the disease.