Patricia Goldsmith Discusses CancerCare (October 5th)

After heart disease cancer is the leading cause of mortality in the US at over 600,000 deaths annually.  Not surprisingly cancer care costs are considerable at approximately $210 billion of which approximately 10% is paid out of pocket.  This explains why in part up to 30% of Medicare beneficiaries without subsidies do not fill their anticancer prescriptions.  To make matters worse, the COVID pandemic has significantly compromised cancer diagnosis and treatment that are expected to produce negative ripple effects.  While  President Biden’s “Cancer Moonshot,” aims to cut cancer death rates by 50% over the next 25 years, last year the CDC projected that because of the growth and aging of the population the annual number of cancer cases will increase nearly 50% between 2015 and 2050.  

During this 33 minute interview Ms. Goldsmith discusses the CancerCare's work, in sum, the organization provides free professional support services and information for cancer patients.  We move on to discuss the relationship between CancerCare's work and the Medicare hospice benefit, problems with employer based coverage for cancer diagnoses, complications associated with timely cancer screenings, work CancerCare does to help their patients/clients afford their medications.  Ms. Goldsmith comments on President Biden's Cancer Moonshot initiative, drug pricing policies recently passed under the IRA, challenges her organization faces in raising financial assistance funding and the increasing demands on the organization's workforce.            

Patricia J. Goldsmith joined CancerCare in 2014 as Chief Executive Officer.  Ms. Goldsmith previously served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN).  Previously still,  Ms. formerly served as Vice President for Institutional Development, Public Affairs and Marketing at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida – an NCCN Member Institution.  Before joining Moffitt, she developed and directed all managed care activities for the University of South Florida College of Medicine.  A frequent national meetings and symposia, Ms. Goldsmith has also served on Congressional panels.  Ms. Goldsmith has studied at the Pennsylvania State University, the University of Missouri Bloch School of Business and the Harvard School of Public Health.  She was a winner of the 1999 Distinguished Women in Business Award sponsored by the Business Journal of Tampa Bay and also was named the 1999 Leukemia Society Woman of the Year.  Most recently, Ms. Goldsmith was named to Forbes 50 Over 50 Vision List which was established in partnership with Mika Brzezinski’s “Know Your Value,” and highlights women over the age of 50 who have achieved significant success.

Information on CancerCare is at: https://www.cancercare.org/.

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