Innovative Advocacy: The Shared Voice Defending patients

In the healthcare sector, we tend to focus on the newest, most innovative treatments available to patients. But those developments can’t help patients who are denied access to them. Unfortunately, millions of Americans are in jeopardy of losing vital protections that help ensure their continued access to quality medical care due to ongoing legislative and judicial threats to those with pre-existing conditions. Fortunately, patient groups representing millions of people have come together in an unprecedented fashion and launched a new form of advocacy that elevates shared goals above all else. This panel will examine how coalition building worked to preserve protections for patients with pre-existing conditions and how this approach is being used to protect cancer patients and their families from new challenges on the horizon.<br><br>

Moderator: <br>Sarah Karlin-Smith, Healthcare Reporter, POLITICO<br><br>

Speakers:<br>

• Marialanna Lee, Vice President, Public Policy, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society<br>
• Katie Berge, Director of Federal Affairs, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society<br>
• Erika Sward, National Assistant Vice President, Advocacy, American Lung Association<br>
• Stephanie Krenrich, Director, Federal Relations, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network