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AUSTIN, TX   – June 4, 2021 – Today, Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law Senate bill 1028 which will ensure Texans can access affordable preventative colorectal cancer screening beginning at age 45. It does this by eliminating cost-sharing for all preventative colorectal cancer screening tests for people 45 and older, even if they are performed as a follow up to a positive less invasive screening. A broad coalition of public health groups, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) and Fight Colorectal Cancer (Fight CRC), have spent ...

Nearly 95 percent of smokers start before the age of 21, when the developing brain is highly vulnerable to the addictive effects of nicotine. In Texas, 13,700 kids become daily smokers every year, ... to $185 million in reduced healthcare expenditures and productivity costs over five years.   During the 2017 Texas Legislative session, ACS CAN advocates and volunteers gained momentum for the 2019 session with strong bipartisan support for a “Tobacco 21” bill to raise the age of ...

... Bill 989 will enable more patients to benefit from biomarker testing, an essential step in accessing precision medicine treatments.     “ACS CAN thanks Sen. Joan Huffman and Rep. Greg Bonnen for their leadership on biomarker testing legislation and Gov. Abbott for signing this important piece of legislation,” said James Gray, Texas government relations director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). “This legislation will help dismantle barriers and bring the promise of precision medicine to more cancer patients. This can provide many benefits to patients, including better outcomes, improved quality of life, and ...

... United States Preventive Services Task For ce (USPSTF) guidelines released this past May. Most significantly, the recent law also removes out-of-pocket costs for patients needing a colonoscopy following a positive non-invasive screening test, making Texas the latest of just 6 states ... is the second most common cause of cancer deaths among men and women combined in the U.S. as well as in Texas and is one of the few cancers that can be prevented through screening. In 2021, it’s estimated that over 11,000 Texans will receive a colorectal cancer diagnosis and an estimated ... of how strong, lifesaving public policy is integral to reducing the burden of cancer. We congratulate Texas for being a leader in eliminating cost sharing for patients needing a follow-up colonoscopy following up a positive stool-based test. “Everyone should have access to colorectal ...