A Bay area doctor is making his way to Washington to weigh in on the health care debate.
- Pinellas oncologist traveling to Washington to discuss health care with lawmakers
- Dr. Michael Diaz to be in Washington for two days this week
- Dr. Diaz is president of the Florida Society of Clinical Oncology
Dr. Michael Diaz plans to meet with lawmakers to advocate for his patients health care. Diaz, an oncologist with Florida Cancer Specialist, said he wants to be a voice for cancer patients.
"I think that patients in general are very under-represented," Diaz said. "And physicians - we see our patients, we see what’s going on, we see their struggles and I think that we have an opportunity to be, serve as one of their best advocates."
Diaz said he will spend two days this week in Washington to discuss funding for research for patients battling various stages of the disease.
"They’re (patients) concerned with how they’re going to get their care covered," he said. "Will they be able to get their care and that’s really one of the things they shouldn’t have to be worrying about when they’re facing cancer, when they’re trying to fight and battle cancer."
Diaz, who also serves as the president of the Florida Society of Clinical Oncology, plans to meet with Rep. Gus Bilirakis, who represents Pasco and parts of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties.
"We’re educating the people that are in charge of making and developing policies so that we can make the system better and work for our patients," Diaz said.
"We’re gonna be meeting with our elected officials and their staff to try to help work on ways we can improve health care so that it’s accessible to our cancer patients so that we can work on making it more affordable."