News
October 2010 Monthly Advocacy Update
The dust is settling following the election as campaign rhetoric gives way to policy pronouncements. In the coming weeks, we’ll learn more details about what’s coming in Congress and in state legislatures across the country. Overall, we can expect a focus on fiscal austerity, which could squeeze federal and state funding available for cancer research and prevention programs. Based on various statements made during and since the campaign, we are also anticipating new efforts to alter the course of the Affordable Care Act, which could put critical patient protections at risk. At the same time, it is incumbent upon us to continue to implement and improve the law and ensure that it is working for cancer patients and their families.
The task before ACS CAN is, as I wrote last week, to take this opportunity to educate and update both new and returning officeholders on the issues that people with cancer and their families care about, and to cultivate the cancer policy champions of the future. Like each of us, most of them are people who have been touched by cancer, either through their own experience or that of a loved one. ACS CAN will do what we have always done best – making sure that the voices of people with cancer and their families are heard in national and state policy debates.
Smoke-Free Victories at the Ballot Box
For more information, visit http://fightcancer.org/smokefree.
I’m very pleased to report on several Election Day smoke-free victories.
Smoke-free South Dakota
A very big congratulations to Midwest Division volunteers and staff on overwhelming passage of a ballot initiative in South Dakota that extends a restriction on indoor smoking to include all bars, restaurants, and state regulated casinos and video lottery establishments. When South Dakota’s law takes effect on November 10, it will be the 23rd state with a smoke-free law covering 100 percent of workplaces, including bars and restaurants. South Dakota is also the 16th state, along with Puerto Rico, to have a smoke-free law that includes all state regulated gaming facilities. Casino and food service workers have a significantly higher risk of dying from lung cancer than the general public, due in part to their continuous exposure to secondhand smoke. Read the ACS CAN press release.
Congratulations again to our volunteer and staff partners in the Midwest Division for their hard work in making this victory possible. ACS CAN was proud to team up with the Division and their coalition partners in this winning campaign. ACS CAN provided support through monetary grants, staff on the ground, strategic counsel, and technical assistance.
Local Victories in High Plains
Congratulations also to volunteers and staff in the High Plains Division where three communities -- Fulton, Missouri, Jefferson City, Missouri, and San Angelo, Texas -- approved smoke-free ballot questions. The final tallies indicated a strong preference among voters to work in and patronize smoke-free establishments. Fulton’s measure passed 54 percent to 46 percent. In Jefferson City, the count was 58 percent to 42 percent for the smoking ban. The results in San Angelo were 60.5 percent in favor and 39.5 percent against. ACS CAN provided phone banking services to support the Division and its coalition partners. Fulton and San Angelo will go into effect before the end of year while Jefferson City’s law takes effect in February 2011.
ACS CAN Electoral Program
During the 2010 election cycle, ACS CAN amplified patients’ voices in the most successful voter education effort in our short history. ACS CAN sent questionnaires to candidates in congressional and state election contests across the country to inform them and allow them to go on the record about issues that are critical to families touched by cancer, including federal funding for cancer research, tobacco control, and implementation of the Affordable Care Act. In addition, ACS CAN volunteers nationwide used the questionnaires to educate voters about candidate positions on these issues by tracking candidates at public forums and canvassing neighborhoods. Read the ACS CAN press release.
Several news outlets ran stories on ACS CAN’s efforts, including The Topeka Capital-Journal, Public News Service, and WTVB in Michigan. ACS CAN volunteers had letters to the editor about the voter guides published in the Rochester, Minnesota Post-Bulletin, the Fond du Lac Reporter in Wisconsin, and the Stowe Reporter in Vermont.
ACS CAN also co-sponsored bipartisan candidate debates for the US House and US Senate in Delaware and the 24th Congressional District in New York as part of the voter education program. Read the ACS CAN press release on the Delaware Senate debate. News coverage included an article in the Sussex Countian on the House debate quoting ACS CAN volunteer Barbara Burd, a story in the in The Newark Post, and coverage on WAMC-Northeast Public Radio and WKTV in New York. In the Delaware Senate debate, which was broadcast on CNN, co-moderator and CNN anchor Wolf Blizter asked a multi-part question about the Affordable Care Act that mirrored the content of background materials ACS CAN provided to the debate moderators in advance. During the New York Congressional debate, ACS CAN’s voter guide question about increased federal funding for cancer research was asked.
In addition, ACS CAN ran an advertisement in conjunction with the Delaware debates that invited the public to join us in support of policies that help fight cancer. The ad ran in print and online in the Wilmington News Journal and Politico, as well as on the websites of CNN, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. View the ad.
(A quick reminder about the electoral program, ACS CAN is non-partisan and does not endorse candidates, parties, or party platforms.)
CANCER RESEARCH AND PREVENTION PROGRAMS
For more information, visit http://fightcancer.org/research.
Appropriations Update
Because Congress did not complete action on any 2011 federal fiscal year (FY 2011) appropriations bills before recessing, FY 2011 began October 1 under a Continuing Resolution (CR), a temporary spending measure that maintains current FY 2010 funding levels for all federal government programs. The CR expires on December 3. The current Congress is expected to return for a lame duck session in mid-November, but it is not yet clear whether they will extend the CR into next year and let the new Congress set the funding levels, draft a year-long CR, or proceed with an attempt to pass an omnibus appropriations bill this year.
In light of renewed focus on reducing the deficit, there has been increased talk of an across-the-board cut in discretionary spending, which will negatively impact funding levels for critical programs at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ACS CAN is actively engaged in efforts to protect the funding levels currently proposed for cancer research and control programs, and is calling on Congress to pass a FY 2011 omnibus appropriations bill this year instead of resorting to a CR.
2012 Fiscal Year Budget
Even as we await resolution of this year’s spending levels, ACS CAN is also looking ahead. Together with its partners in the One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) coalition, ACS CAN has sent a letter to NCI Director Dr. Harold Varmus with suggestions for framing the agency’s proposed budget for the 2012 fiscal year.
Prevention Funding
The Prevention and Public Health Fund established under the Affordable Care Act provides an additional $750 million for public health and prevention programs in FY 2011. This funding does not come from the discretionary budget, so it is not impacted by efforts to cut the FY 2011 discretionary budget. The prevention fund supports community-based programs that make preventive services more accessible, including tobacco cessation services. Congress has the authority to determine how the $750 million should be spent, and has done so in the FY 2011 Labor and HHS Appropriations bills. Absent direction from Congress, the Secretary of Health and Human Services would allocate the $750 million.
Power of the Purse
Read about the ACS CAN-Making Strides Against Breast Cancer partnership to urge Congress to increase federal funding for cancer research in “Paint the Town Pink: ACS Angles for its Share” in the Halifax-Plympton (MA) Reporter. For more information, visit http://fightcancer.org/makingstrides.
National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities
NIH recently announced the transition of the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities to the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) as authorized by the Affordable Care Act. The transition means a more defined role for NIH's health disparities research agenda. NIMHD promotes minority health, conducts and supports research, training, research infrastructure, fosters emerging programs, disseminates information, and reaches out to minority and other health disparity communities. Increased funding for the agency has long been an ACS CAN priority.
NATIONAL BREAST AND CERVICAL CANCER EARLY DETECTION PROGRAM
For more information, visit http://fightcancer.org/breastcancer
Society Volunteer at White House for Breast Cancer Awareness Month Event
On October 15, Society volunteer Lorene Nelson of Georgetown, South Carolina, joined the vice president’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden, at the White House, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius by phone for an event marking Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Lorene was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer through the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP). As you know, funding for this life saving program, now in its 20th year, is a top ACS CAN priority. Read the ACS CAN press release and a story about Lorene in the Charleston Post and Courier.
California Success
Throughout the year ACS CAN and Society Divisions have been leading the fight to protect state funding for breast and cervical screening and treatment programs associated with the NBCCEDP. The challenge is especially acute this year as many states continue to face substantial budget shortfalls.
In California, the state’s dire fiscal crisis forced the breast and cervical program to stop accepting new patients in January and tighten eligibility requirements so that only women 50 and up could participate. Thanks to the ongoing and tireless efforts of California Division staff and volunteers, and their coalition partners, the final state budget ultimately restored $20 million to the program, allowing it to reopen and again screen women aged 40-49.
ACCESS TO CARE - AFFORDABLE CARE ACT UPDATE
Be sure to visit http://fightcancer.org/healthcare/learn for the latest fact sheets and background papers on insurance reform and the state exchanges. Topics include Medicaid benefits, the Indian Health Service, prevention in Medicare, wellness programs, risk adjustment and employee coverage through the exchanges. In addition, materials from the July staff conference in Atlanta can now be found on the site.
Consumer Education
New Patient-Focused Guide to the Affordable Care Act
A new consumer-friendly guide that describes how provisions of the Affordable Care Act help people with cancer and their families is now available on fightcancer.org. ACS CAN worked with Corporate Communications and Health Promotions staff at the National Home Office on the guide, which explains the Affordable Care Act through the “cancer lens.” The guide, which features the stories of real people who have battled cancer or helped loved ones fight the disease, discusses provisions of the law as they apply to the Society’s original “4 A’s” that define meaningful health coverage: adequacy, affordability, availability, and administrative simplicity.
Consumer Assistance Grants
HHS released $30 million to fund the Consumer Asistance Grant Program, providing grants to states and territories to help educate consumers about health coverage options, assist with insurance enrollment, and aid consumers in filing complaints and appeals with insurers. To date 35 states, four territories and the District of Columbia applied for and received grants to establish programs. States and territories may partner with non-profit organizations to perform the work. For consumers in the 15 states that did not apply for grants, the HHS Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight will provide assistance out of Washington, DC. Click here for a fact sheet and summary of how each state or territory will use the new resources.
New Information Added to Healthcare.gov Website
The federal government www.healthcare.gov website has posted additional information and tools for consumers to help them make better informed choices when purchasing insurance. To date more than 225 insurance companies have provided information about their individual and family plans for more than 4,400 policies, including policies in every state and the District of Columbia.
State Health Exchanges
Comments on Final Rule
On Monday, October 4, ACS CAN signed onto a consumer group letter responding to a request from HHS for comments on the insurance exchanges. The comments detail many of the important questions and principles that the federal government will need to address in order to ensure the success of the exchanges. Topics range from use and renewal of the state exchange planning grants to risk adjustment procedures and outreach activities. ACS CAN policy staff co-authored the sections on the alternative federal exchange and the requirements for qualified health plans.
To help states develop the exchanges and prepare for 2014, HHS awarded planning grants to 48 states and the District of Columbia (Alaska and Minnesota did not apply.) States have enormous latitude in how to use the funds. The average grant is $1 million for the first year, with second and third year grants available.
State Activity