To the editor:

As a breast cancer survivor, I know how important it is to have good health insurance. Good, comprehensive health insurance means being able to get checkups and cancer screenings, cancer treatment and the follow-up care needed for life as a cancer survivor. It can mean the difference between life and death. 

That’s why, when I went to our nation’s capital (in September) as a volunteer advocate with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, in addition to advocating for federal cancer research and prevention funding and the bipartisan Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act, I also asked Congresswoman Ann Wagner, Senator Eric Schmitt and Senator Josh Hawley to extend crucial health care tax credits that help more than 383,000 Missourians afford comprehensive health insurance through the Marketplace.

If Congress allows the enhanced health care tax credits to expire at the end of the year, 4.2 million people across the country will become uninsured. For cancer patients in particular, these health care tax credits are a lifeline that enables access to timely, lifesaving treatments. NOW is the time for Congress to act.     

Beth Schartner

Oakville