Having Cancer Doesn't Make Me Worth Less
An economic formula that counts sick people as fractions could ration health care and penalize cancer patients. But going through cancer has made my life seem more valuable, not less.
An organization named ICER — the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review — is making big waves in health care circles. It calls itself “a trusted non-profit” despite suggestions that it takes significant funding from the health insurance industry. ICER has just released a draft report about treatment for a rare and difficult-to-treat cancer called Multiple Myeloma. In a few months, it will publish a similar assessment for Lung Cancer. Medicare is already considering use of ICER’s approaches in official policy.
ICER’s not-so-secret ambition? To become the American analog of a group in the United Kingdom called NICE, which is far from “nice.” NICE rations health care and keeps the newest high-tech cancer drugs off the market due to their cost. In fact, the policies of NICE have led to the UK having the poorest overall cancer survival rates in Western Europe.
