Breast Cancer Survivors New Face Of Progressive Push For Health Care (VIDEO)

A highly personalized push for health care reform is being launched in several key states, with breast cancer survivors urging reluctant Democrats to support a public option for health insurance coverage.

On Wednesday, a coalition of progressive groups, including Democracy for America, MoveOn, and Change Congress, released a 60-second television ad in Louisiana ramping up the pressure on Sen. Mary Landrieu to support a government vehicle for insurance. In addition to shining a spotlight on the $1.6 million Landrieu has received from health and insurance companies in the form of campaign contributions, the spot also elevates the story of Karen Gadbois, a breast cancer survivor who had won the title of 2008 New Orleanian of the Year by exposing corruption after Hurricane Katrina.

"I'm a breast cancer survivor, so I know how important affordable health care is," says Gadbois. "But right now I'm uninsured, even though I work full-time, because the cost is just so high. It would literally take away half my salary."

The Landrieu ad, which will run in New Orleans and Baton Rouge for a week, is not an isolated incident of progressives using stories of medical suffering to push for more comprehensive health care reform. In a highly personalized essay on her site, FireDogLake, Jane Hamsher wrote about her own experiences with breast cancer and how it has affected the way she approaches the health care debate. In addition to calling out those female senators who currently sit on the fence when it comes to a public option, Hamsher adds that -- in coordination with the progressive group BlueNC and fellow blog, Pam's House Blend -- she will be reaching out to "my fellow breast cancer survivors in North Carolina," to put the pressure on Sen. Kay Hagan.

"Kay Hagan has been the sole obstacle keeping a public plan from coming out of the Senate HELP Committee," Hamsher writes. "On Friday, Pam Spaulding and breast cancer survivors of North Carolina will go to Kay Hagan's office carrying their signatures and those of the people who stand with them, asking Hagan to stand with us, too."

Finally, the White House itself seems to be increasingly willing to use health care horror stories as a launching pad to build momentum for reform. The president's campaign arm, Organizing for America, is raising funds for a nationwide ad campaign featuring, "real people, looking us in the eye, telling their actual story, and asking for our help to fix this broken system."

The targets, in all likelihood, won't be specific Democratic senators but rather a national audience. The goal, however, will be the same as the MoveOn ad and Hamsher's post: crystallizing public pressure for Congress to act and act in a way that reflects the president's agenda.

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Comments

[BrighterStar]

Wait, she had cancer and survived in a country with such a broken healthcare system? The truth is that she is lucky she did not have to be treated in an Obama care system. The US has the highest cancer survivor rate in the world. Twenty percent more people survive cancer in the US compared to Britain. The truth is that she may be alive today because we do not yet have an Obama style healthcare system.

[quiviran]

You don't know the difference between truth and supposition.

Do you know the difference between your tongue and a suppository?

[CanadianBeef]

Interesting fact: cancer survival rates in the U.S. vary directly with income. Poorer people get fewer checkups and generally get diagnosed at a later stage, when cures are difficult. That was the finding of a Canadian study comparing cancer survival rates. In Canada, the rich and poor must use the same system, so the rich help make sure it's good.

[rxvette]

Read this - http://rxvette.blogspot.com/2009/06/biggest-key-to-health-care-reform-in-us.html

[marignymitch]

Won't work. Landrieu's soul belongs to the medical/insurance industry.

But if reform proponent were to double medical/insurance contributions to her campaign coffers she might pause ... before remembering where her 'heart' lies.

[coco51]

I have an issue with cancer and any other catastrophic illness being described as a "horror" story. Horror stories are those conjured up by authors like Stephen King and Vincent Price.

In this instance, Horror stories, trivialize the never-ending trauma the patient, their families, and society at large suffer for inumerable years. Sufferers by and large are being regarded by politicians as objects with less value than their golf clubs, designer clothing or spa memberships.

Politicians with healthcare borne on the backs of taxpayers whether of their party or not should be ashamed of themselves. So many of them have passed away or cured without a worry about the financial toll because they were "covered" by us the taxpayer, they have forgotten or choose to forget from whose pockets their treatment/cure came.

A curisory search on google using "politicians diagnosed with cancer" covers more than I expected.

I also searched for politicians dead from cancer and found the address below which although not current really was eyeopening..

www.politicalgraveyard.com/death/cancer

[Ariadne]

Wonderful ad. She is another supposed Dem who needs to go away.

[pb28]

Bravo. Sen. Landrieu’s service to her country has been utterly disgraceful. This queen of cowards is scared to death of what the republicans might call her if she does the right thing while shoveling in loads of insurance lobbyists cash into her purse. She is far worse then any republican in the senate and needs to go.

[quiviran]

She is a Louisiana Landrieu. With this data you know all you need to know.

[HowietheScreamer]

Funny how Repubics whine about "government rationing" of health care, but just love the Corporate rationing system we have now.

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

I don't understand why they rant so much. My husband retired from the military and we have excellent socialist medicine.

[CanadianBeef]

Shh! Everyone will want it!

[GeorgeP922]

Wow this thread has gotten jacked by an old drunk PUMA tr0ll.

Looks like their blogs finally gave up the fight that ended a year ago.

Anyways if you want to help, go to these sites and sign up for their mailing list, and try and donate if you can.
MoveOn and PCCC are running ads right now!

http://moveon.org/

http://boldprogressives.org/ The PCCC, they are running smaller more surgical ads on Landrieu, and Nelson.

http://www.democracyforamerica.com/ Howard Dean's PAC, not sure if they have ran ads yet, but they work closely and fiercely for American's right to health care.

If you got some bucks try and give it to the PCCC, it was started by Adam Greene who left MoveOn to make a more leaner and responsive action commitee.

They got Ben Nelson to flip flop on his anti-health position with just 25K of ads and direct mail!

[nola87]

Moon would be so ashamed of his daughter right now.

[GreatNews27]

No one really thinks these political pigs will turn on their Corporate Masters do they? Be ready for a bidding war over their votes. The only thing these corrupt jackles understand is cold hard cash. If you can't afford to pay for their votes then you lose. And remember, it's not corruption, it's tradition.

[maggienash65]

As a colon cancer surviver, I know how important screening is. Had I not had a good doctor and was able to get a colonoscopy, I probably would not be here today. Colon cancer is a silent killer. I have been cancer free for over 3 years.

I am a low income senior and I know how hard it is. I hope everyone really thinks about healthcare and how we can get it past.

[smileatfear]

Congratulations and I wish you many more years of good health. I have MS and I am one attack away from being disabled. I also have a preexisting condition that would make it impossible to get insurance on the open market were my employer to let me go or decide to no longer offer health care as a benefit. Most of us are one major illness away from losing everything. It has to change. And everyone needs to be a voice for that change.

[SouthernYankeeBelle]

Alot of people have health care. I know people that work at Wal Mart and many have the plan but it really costs alot. Plus alot of people have plans through their jobs but the cost are to high.

[kimleehan]

Dr. Otis Brawley chief medical officer at the cancer society says that if people who are diagnosed with cancer and are uninsured have a 60% greater chance of dying from cancer than those with insurance.
Part of the problem is that uninsured don't have access to screening but also uninsured don't have access to good doctors. He also says this also applys to underinsured also.

[quiviran]

Add to that the numbers of people who don't have health insurance and are never diagnosed.

[zenaby56]

I think the cancer gives a frame of reference but what is not being talked about is how she cannot get affordable health insurance (cancer being one of those measures that prevent that) and without insurance, she probably is not engaged in preventive health care because of the costs to her and her family. So, she's not getting physicals, not getting the cancer followup monitoring to pre-empt any reoccurrence, no attention to health issues that come with age, etc. Its bigger than the pre-existing condition. The inability to get the insurance impacts her total health for now and tomorrow. I know, I am a cancer survivor without insurance and struggling with these same issues.

[helonias]

Kay Hagan is not for the least of us

[PhilipTaylor]

Another LOSER in CONGRESS! Only a Handful actually represent REAL Americans (99+%) as most were bought by Wall Street or Those Running Insurance and Healthcare Companies!

Also, she may be loyal to the Massive Medical Establishment in her state!

She comes with strong support from progressives so this one is hard to compute:

Democratic/Liberal $1,802,478
Women's Issues $473,649
Retired $429,738
Lawyers/Law Firms $364,432
Leadership PACs $273,600
Real Estate $164,649
Securities & Investment $139,463
Misc Business $106,549
Misc Finance $102,848
TV/Movies/Music $92,646
Education $84,474
Health Professionals $81,375

[sadler05]

I contributed time and money to Kay Hagen's campaign and I just wrote to her to express my concern in her role as an obstructionist. We all have to band together and write/call/protest whatever it takes to let our elected officials know that we will not sit still and allow moneyed
interests to rule this land. We need healthcare reform now! And that includes a public option.

[coco51]

helonias, you are correct. when your hubby is worth more than 10mil, you don't have to worry about trvial stuff like healthcare..

[BabblingBrooks]

Since breast cancer DEATHS are higher in Canada, France, other countries with government­-sponsored "universal" health care, one wonders why these breast cancer survivors are acting so irrationally!

[simplify]

Neanderthal!

[BabblingBrooks]

You try to answer facts with epithets? Pitiful.

[dayala]

wow...any facts or statistics to back that up.

[Ponderus]

This bo mb throwing PAID poster doesn't d o facts.

[BabblingBrooks]

Sure! Look them up!

[JackWhistle]

How do you explain that China has the lowest rate of deaths then?

"The lifetime probability of developing breast cancer in developed countries is about 4.8%, according to the American Cancer Society (the probability is about 13% for any type of cancer). In developing countries, the lifetime probability of developing breast cancer is about 1.8%. "

Hmmm...

1. Industrialized nations pumping out cancer producing chemicals into their environment
2. MOST industrialized nations have some kinda Universal health

CLEARLY its the second one that causes those deaths.

[unity08]

"How do you explain that China has the lowest rate of deaths then"?


Diet

[BabblingBrooks]

Do I believe Chinese statistics? No. No more than I believe Cuba's or any other totalitarian dictator's statistics.

[CJWebber]

Well, if you never saw a dr because you couldn'tt afford to, I guess no one will ever know what you died of.

[BobsNotWorking]

Indeed. My wife died thirty years ago, after laying on the floor of the Bexar County Hospital for more than eight hours while waiting to be seen by a doctor, and following her private doctor visit that same morning. He knew she had a ruptured intestine, but he wouldn't admit her to the hospital across the street from his office, or provide her with any care, and he sent her home, driving herself, with these instructions, "You need to go to the hospital." He sent her away because we were struggling and had no insurance. Once seen by a doctor that evening they rushed her to emergency surgery, but she died a few hours later. Those eight hours would have likely made all the difference. That morning she was driving herself to the doctor. By that evening she was near death. No one, besides me, in my family or hers has ever fully realized that she died because she had no insurance, and her private doctor refused to care for her. My guess is that there are tens of thousands who die each year in similar circumstances. I was left to raise our two young children alone, which I did, but life without her sure wasn't much of a life. I've been gainfully self employed my entire life and I'm no deadbeat. I even paid her hospital bill. This is what our "wonderful", "best in the world" healthcare system does for many Americans.

[Raina Petkoff]

Here's an easy comparison http://www.pnhp.org/single_payer_resources/CAN_Comparison_Sheet.pdf - and BabblingBrooks is "slightly" correct - "On seven diseases / procedures for which data are available for both countries, Canada survival
rates were superior to the U.S. for four (colorectal cancer: 113 Canada vs. 108 U.S.; childhood
leukemia: 118 vs.110; kidney transplants 113 vs. 100; and liver transplants 123 vs. 102), about the
same on two (cervical cancer: 106 Canada vs. 108 U.S.; and non-Hodgkins lymphoma: 107 vs.
109), and worse on one (breast cancer: 104 Canada vs. 114 U.S.)." You can also see real facts about wait times for knee replacement - REAL FACTS - not Republican bs. Also bone marrow transplants, kidney transplants and other health care issues.

In addition - for cancer survival - the report shows that low-income Americans (residing in census tracts with a median income of less than $17,800 at the time of diagnosis) had significantly lower survival rates than higher-income Americans (median census tract income of $51,500 or more) for 12 of 15 kinds of cancer studied. Canadians had no such association for any cancer because care is not determined by how wealthy you are in Canada. Also, compared with their American counterparts, low-income Canadians had a significant survival advantage for 13 of the 15 kinds of cancer studied.

There are facts - not Republican babble-talk - if you just actually care enough to, you know, read.

[nellie]

Fanned. Thanks for all the facts.

[SoClearToMe]

Thanks for the facts Raina.

[kapalabhati]

Thank, you. Now for all those who say that universal health care will cause rationing, these stats clearly show it already exists.

[freelyb]

Excellent. In the study I just read from 2005, the US actually had more breast cancer per capita than any other country under study, by far. So much for preventative care...

http://www.imaginis.com/breasthealth/statistics.asp#1

[mama mac]

Good research Raina, especially with regard to the income disparities and how they relate to survival rates.

I notice we're still waiting for a reply from BabblingBrooks.