On September 14, 2022, I launched a Change.org petition because Medicare and some private insurers were threatening to reduce or eliminate coverage for a highly effective, non-surgical treatment for nonmelanoma skin cancer: Image-Guided SRT.

At the time, I warned that if coverage disappeared, millions of patients could be forced into more invasive options, primarily Mohs surgery, hospital-based radiation therapy that is often more expensive, or, in some cases, delaying treatment altogether.

Since then, more than 58,000 people have signed this petition. That number represents something powerful: a growing national demand for patient choice and access to modern, less invasive cancer care.

Unfortunately, Medicare has now taken action that puts that access at serious risk.

Medicare is cutting reimbursement and adding new restrictions

Medicare has recently announced dramatic reductions in reimbursement for Image-Guided SRT, along with new rules and administrative requirements that make it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for dermatology practices to provide this treatment.

The result is clear: even when patients and physicians agree that Image-Guided SRT is the best option, Medicare’s new policies may block it.

This isn’t about patient safety, it’s about money

When I started this petition, I warned that powerful hospital-based radiation oncology interests were lobbying to restrict radiation therapy in dermatology offices—not because the treatment doesn’t work, but because it threatens their revenue.  Since that warning, I’ve learned that the American College of Mohs Surgeons (ACMS) has joined the war against IGSRT and all of us who want an alternative to Mohs Surgery.  

My warning appears to be coming true.

I saw online that more than 138,000 patients have now been treated successfully with radiation therapy delivered in dermatology settings. If this approach were unsafe or ineffective, we would have heard about widespread failures by now. We haven’t—because the outcomes are strong and patients deserve access.

Skin cancer is too common for Medicare to limit options

Each year, 3.3 million Americans are diagnosed with basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma. And one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.

This is not a rare issue. This is a national public health issue.

A message to CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz

Dr. Oz, you oversee the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Millions of Americans know your name, and many trust you.

I’m asking you directly: Please intervene.
Tell CMS to reverse policies that restrict Image-Guided SRT and protect patient access to non-surgical cancer treatment options.

A message to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Secretary Kennedy, you have said restoring trust in public health institutions is a priority.

Allowing Medicare to bow to pressure from special interests—while limiting patient access to FDA-cleared treatment options—is not how trust is restored.

Please direct CMS to ensure Medicare policies support patient-centered, evidence-based care, not institutional profit.

Thank you.  Please keep this movement growing

To everyone who signed the petition: thank you. Your voice matters, and it’s needed now more than ever.

But we can’t stop here.

·         Please forward this email to friends, family, and colleagues.

·         Share the petition again.

·         Let’s push this from 58,000 signatures to 1 million.

If they won’t listen to thousands of us, maybe they’ll listen to all of us.

With gratitude and determination,
Connie Liden, RN (Ret.)