When a doctor looks at you and says "you have breast cancer," the emotions come quickly: confusion, anger, numbness. Then, just like that, you're thrown into the complex maze of the American healthcare bureaucracy. Perhaps you know exactly what this feels like. No one should have to face breast cancer alone, and this is your chance to help.
Click here to tell your Senators to fund the Patient Navigator Act, a grant program that provides highly trained and sensitive healthcare workers to help patients through their cancer treatment.
Patient navigators are there to provide support and guidance when it's needed most - to those who need it most. Some of the services they offer include:
- Coordinating appointments
- Keeping track of medical records and making sure each doctor has the files she or he needs
- Arranging transportation or child care during appointments
- Helping with paperwork, translation, and language services as needed
- Connecting patients with support services and counseling
Congress passed the Patient Navigator Outreach and Chronic Disease Prevention Act of 2005. That was two years ago - and this program STILL has not received any funding!
