WASHINGTON May 9, 2012 The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, together with the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association, sent a letter to the lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives today, urging them to oppose efforts to address the budget deficit on the backs of patients with chronic diseases including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Lawmakers are considering reconciliation legislation that would cut mandatory funding currently set aside to promote prevention and public health, as well as funds to establish state-based health insurance exchanges.æ Additionally, the legislation would erect barriers to access to care for low- and moderate-income families by repealing repayment caps for subsidized insurance purchased on state exchanges and roll back mandates to maintain coverage for millions of people with disabilities and severe chronic illnesses on Medicaid who don 't have other ways to receive adequate and affordable care. The letter explains repealing the Prevention and Public Health Fund, which has already suffered a significant cut, would compromise our ability to make progress on cost containment, public health modernization, and wellness promotion. Programs supported by the Fund are already helping Americans adopt healthier lifestyles that include access to clinical services such as mammograms and diabetes screening, tobacco cessation, and maintaining a healthy body weight through exercise. The letter goes on to explain that repealing funding to set up state-based health exchanges, a bipartisan idea, would mean that millions of Americans would be denied access to affordable, adequate health insurance coverage. The letter also addresses concerns from the groups, who collectively represent millions of patients with chronic diseases, that repealing repayment caps for low- and moderate-income families who are eligible to receive tax credits to help make insurance coverage affordable would discourage individuals and families from enrolling in health insurance coverage through state-based exchanges.æ Moreover, the policy could disproportionately affect people with chronic conditions like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Finally, the letter expresses concern that rolling back requirements that states maintain Medicaid eligibility for people with disabilities and severe chronic illnesses including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and stroke will create barriers to important preventive care, lead to poorer outcomes and higher treatment costs, and a greater likelihood of death from these diseases. The full text of the letter can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/JV68h2. ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Alissa Crispino or Steven Weiss American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Phone: (202) 661-5772 or (202) 661-5711 Email: [email protected] or [email protected] #acscan #cancer #reconciliation #preventionfund