Health Reform: Changing the Game for Pediatric Cancer Patients?

For the full story, visit: www.pbs.org/newshour It looked like someone was hurting Cooper Trout. The bruises seemed to be everywhere when Cherie picked up her two-year-old from daycare one day. Then came the fevers and distended stomach. And finally, test results: He had acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Acute because the cancer cells were packed tightly into his spinal column with a direct pathway to his brain. The call from the hospital ended with more news — Cooper’s condition was so bad that Cherie would need to drive him to the UC Cancer Center in Sacramento within an hour for his first round of chemotherapy. And so it began. The single mother of three spent the next 14 months and juggling Cooper’s hospital appointments and a job that kept the family afloat and — critically — covered by health insurance. “We were already a paycheck-to-paycheck family so the financial burden has been huge,” she said. “I’ve met many families since Cooper’s diagnosis where they lose up to 40 percent of their income. As have I.” But it could have been worse, according to the bipartisan Children’s Cause for Cancer Advocacy — especially before 2010 and the passage of some key provisions in the health care reform law. To be certain, in the eyes of many politicians, academics and regular Americans, the health reform law doesn’t look like the right solution to what ails the health care system. And some of those critics who think the Affordable Care Act is too intrusive have their own ideas …