A new House study committee tasked with exploring the lack of access to quality cancer care in Georgia heard from a variety of experts and stakeholders Tuesday in Albany at the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany. This was the second meeting of the committee being chaired by state Rep. Lee Hawkins, R-Gainesville.
Lynn M. Durham, EdD, of the Georgia Cancer Control Consortium, detailed the Georgia Cancer Plan for 2024-2029 – adding that “most people don’t even know we have a cancer plan. She pointed out that there are 610,000 cancer survivors in Georgia which has a population of 11 million people.
Robert Smith, PhD, Senior Vice President of Early Cancer Detection Science of the American Cancer Society, focused on the economic impact of cancer, and stressed the importance of prevention and early detection. “The goal is to detect cancer before the person even has symptoms,” said Smith. “Survival rates are much better the sooner the cancer is detected.”
Smith said the cost of cancer continues to rise, adding that employers report that cancer is the top driver of healthcare costs. He said 49 percent of cancer patients and survivors incurred medical debt as a result of their cancer care. Thirty-five percent of those same patients carried their debt more than three years. Also, 55 percent of these debts have gone to collections, and 49 percent said the debt impacted their credit score.
Smith also spoke on the hidden costs of cancer including absenteeism and productivity loss in the workplace. According to Smith, screening and early treatment are key. “Between 1975 and 2020, an estimated 5.94 million cancer deaths were averted in the U.S. from a combination of prevention screenings and early treatment.”
“We have done a lot, but there is more that needs to be done,” he said. “Screenings are not organized in the United States, no one is really responsible for the oversight of screenings. Also many individuals face barriers to screenings and follow ups, especially the uninsured and those living in rural areas.”
According to Nita Ham, Executive Director, State Office of Rural Health, 120 of 159 counties in Georgia are defined as rural – with 21 percent of the state’s population living in rural areas.
“We have a lot of challenges in rural areas including the increasing number of residents 65 and over, a lack of access to primary care, a higher number of uninsured or underinsured residents, a lack of transportation and the threat of rural hospitals closing.”
According to Ham, Georgia has 68 rural hospitals, and 30 are labeled as critical access hospitals. Georgia has one rural emergency hospital, and 50 counties have no hospital.
According to Caylee Noggle, President and CEO of the Georgia Hospital Association, her organization has been focused on the healthcare workforce – “a workforce that can have a major impact on screenings and cancer care.”
