Too many Americans do without when it comes to health insurance, and a massive American Cancer Society campaign is now underway to get people thinking of ways to change that situation. Doing so is critical to the fight against cancer, ACS officials say.

"As a member of civil society, we have made tremendous progress in the fight against cancer, but that progress will not continue unless all Americans have access to quality health care," says Society chief executive officer John R. Seffrin, PhD.

Seffrin is discussing the issue with members of the national media Monday, in a 10 a.m. ET press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The conference is being Webcast live, and will be available after the event, as well.

The new initiative aims to draw attention to plight of the 47 million Americans who have no health insurance at all, and the millions more whose coverage isn't adequate to meet their health care needs. If cancer strikes, these people may have to do without necessary treatment because it's too expensive, or put themselves into deep financial debt to pay for care.

That's what happened to Raina, one of the patients highlighted in the new campaign. Her insurance didn't cover all the costs of her thyroid cancer treatment, and her family couldn't afford the payments.

"Basically, on every medical bill that I have, they've turned it over to a collection agency," says Raina, who will join Seffrin and other ACS officials at Monday's conference.

"No one should have to choose between taking care of their health and paying their bills," says Richard C. Wender, MD, national volunteer president of ACS and another conference speaker.

The consequences of being uninsured or underinsured can be dire. Recent American Cancer Society studies found that people with no health insurance and those with only Medicaid coverage were more likely to be diagnosed with advanced cancer than people who had private health insurance. The more advanced cancer is when it's found, the harder it is to treat -- and the more expensive, in both personal and financial costs.

What can be done? As a starting point, ACS and its sister organization, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) have developed a set of standards for health insurance coverage.

• Adequate: People must have timely access to the full range of health care, including prevention and early detection.
• Affordable: Health care costs should be based on the patient's ability to pay.
• Available: People need to have coverage no matter what their health status is or what treatments they've had in the past.
• Administratively simple: Health care processes should be easy to understand and navigate.

"Cancer is the number one personal health concern of Americans," Wender points out. "Reducing suffering and death from cancer may only truly be possible if all Americans are able to visit their doctor for regular check ups, early detection screening tests, and prompt, quality cancer treatment if and when they need it."

To learn more about the Society's new campaign, visit www.cancer.org/access.