January 30, 2024
3 minute read
Editor's note: This is part two of a three-part Healio exclusive series about women on a mission. Part 1 can be found here.
At the medical school, Haley Arden Moss, MD, MBA; I had the opportunity to work with the Obama administration when the Affordable Care Act was just passed.
That time ignited a passion in her to work to improve access to health insurance and reduce the cost of cancer treatment for all.
Moss went on to a career focused on research, publishing extensively on the impact of the Affordable Care Act on cancer treatment and Medicaid expansion.
“We are extremely proud of this study, which reveals a clear link between improved access to health insurance and more timely, efficient, and high-quality cancer care.” Duke Cancer said Moss, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology in the university's gynecological oncology division. “We are very proud of this,'' said Helio, director and Institute for the Breast and Gynecologic Oncology System of Excellence in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of National Oncology Programs.
Moss currently spends half of her work schedule as a clinical gynecologic oncologist at Duke University, and the other half as director of the Department of Veterans Affairs' Breast and Gynecologic Oncology System of Excellence. He works as the director of a program to improve the quality of care for veterans. and gynecological cancer.
“I jumped at the opportunity right away. [at the VA]I knew it was a truly unique position that would combine my interests in advocacy policy and cancer treatment,” she said.
Voter initiatives
During her undergraduate training, Moss worked in a clinic that provided support services to people with HIV and AIDS. That's when she became more aware of the correlation between her access to health insurance and appropriate medical care.
“I was drawn to voter initiatives like Get Out the Vote and research on the impact of Medicaid expansion on outcomes for cancer patients,” Moss said. “At the end of the day, it's all about the policies and practices in our country, where legislators decide who deserves health insurance and whether health insurance is a universal right. We need to be clear that without it, patient outcomes will be much worse.”
Moss is also involved with Vot-ER, a program that provides citizen engagement tools and programs to register voters in the clinics and hospitals where health care providers work.
“Vot-ER is amazing,” she said. “A voter badge will be given for free. There is a QR code on the back of the badge that allows individuals to check if they are registered to vote. If not, register before the next election. This is a really great way to advocate for patients.”
Moss cites mentoring and collaboration with people outside of medicine as key factors in his success.
“A lot of my job satisfaction and success comes from having great mentors who don't do exactly the same thing as me,” she said. “A lot of the research work I did involved oncology colleagues as well as people outside of medicine. It’s important to have a network with colleagues from different disciplines. Understanding policy interventions To do this, it is essential to be able to collaborate with statisticians and experts in analyzing large datasets, but clinicians alone cannot answer these questions. Reaching out to people outside of their clinical scope Don't be afraid. Much of my success has been due to collaborations with thought leaders in non-clinical fields.”
“It's not a political issue”
Affordable health care shouldn't be a political issue, Moss said, and all patients have the right to appropriate health care.
“It doesn't matter what political party you belong to. You can care about making sure patients have access to health care,” she says. “Access to health care and insurance in our country has become a highly politicized issue. We all know that our country is currently quite divided, and unfortunately, that will soon become a highly politicized issue. I don't think that will change.
“It shouldn't matter whether someone has access to health insurance to receive the same cancer treatment as everyone else, but for some reason they do,” she added. “There will always be different parties with different ideas about how we pay for health insurance. We need to humanize health care more. We need to start talking about patient care, not money.” Yes, that's what it should be in the end.”
For more information:
Haley Arden Moss, MD, MBA; Please contact [email protected].
