Statement by Dr. Patrick Cobb, president of the Community Oncology Alliance, regarding declining rates of cancer death

“The Community Oncology Alliance is encouraged by the recently released statistics from the American Cancer Society showing a decline in the number of cancer deaths in the U.S. It is important to recognize that the decreasing cancer death rates are a result of several factors, including the quality and accessibility of cancer care provided by community oncology practices throughout the country.

Yet, we cannot ignore that in this year alone there will be almost 1.5 million new cancer cases and 560,000 cancer deaths.

The U.S. cancer care delivery system is now in the first stage of a crisis because Medicare has substantially cut payment for cancer drugs and essential services. Increasingly Americans with inadequate or no insurance, including seniors unable to pay the Medicare 20% coinsurance, are foregoing cancer treatment. We are entering a second stage crisis as we lose oncologists relative to the increasing incidence of cancer.

The Community Oncology Alliance has been actively working on solutions, starting with the Quality Cancer Care Demonstration project (QCCD), a substantive program developed by community oncologists over the past year to enhance the delivery of quality cancer care. The project will focus on patients covered by Medicare (approximately 45% of all cancer patients) and involves collecting data and implementing a patient-centric program to enhance cancer care while controlling costs. The QCCD project is a means of moving forward immediately with real healthcare reform, and provides the foundation for a solution to the crises in cancer care.

The Community Oncology Alliance is actively working with the Congress in integrating the Quality Cancer Care Demonstration project into healthcare reform legislation.”