Hundreds of Advocates Will Gather to Ask Congress to Support Policies that Combat Cancer
WHAT: Kristine Oswald of Davenport will join hundreds of cancer patients, survivors and caregivers on Capitol Hill next week to urge Congress to make cancer a national priority and help end a disease that still kills 1,600 people a day in this country.
Oswald, who lost her mother to cancer, will meet with her member of congress to discuss the need to support an increase in federal funding for cancer research and prevention. She will also ask that they support legislation that improves patients' quality of life and take action to close a Medicare loophole which often results in surprise costs for seniors when a polyp is found during a routine colonoscopy.
"Congress has a critical role to play in the fight to defeat a disease that kills an estimated 500,000 people in America every year. As someone who's living proof of the power of research, I'm asking Congress to demonstrate a commitment to that fight through these critical policies," said Oswald, ACS CAN.
WHEN: ACS CAN Leadership Summit and Lobby day will take place September 14-17 in Washington, D.C.
INTERVIEWS/GUESTS: Kristine Oswald, ACS CAN volunteer who lost her mother to cancer in 2008.
ISSUES: Increase funding for cancer research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and for prevention programs at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Freezes and cuts in federal funding for NCI and the CDC in recent years have put continued progress in the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer in jeopardy. In 2013, Iowa research institutions received $15,049,019 in funding from the NCI and the state's breast and cervical cancer early detection program received $2,474,019 from the CDC to support lifesavings cancer screenings for low-income women.
Co-sponsor legislation to improve the quality of life of cancer patients with better access to palliative care. Sometimes the pain, stress and side effects of cancer treatment is made worse by the poor coordination among the doctors, nurses and specialists on a patient's treatment team. Patients can receive an extra layer of support, called palliative care, which improves patients' quality of life at any age and at any stage of illness. ACS CAN supports bipartisan legislation that would make palliative care more available to people who need it.
Co-sponsor the Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screenings Act Half of all colorectal cancer deaths could be prevented each year if everyone over the age of 50 received screening. The biggest barriers to screening are co-pays and other patient costs. The new health care law waives co-pays for proven screenings for colorectal and other cancers, but Medicare patients can still get hit with a bill if a polyp is found during the procedure. ACS CAN supports legislation that ensures seniors receive those screenings without facing an unexpected bill.
The ACS CAN Lobby Day will culminate with an evening Lights of Hope ceremony in front of the U.S. Capitol Reflecting Pool featuring thousands of lights lit in honor of a cancer survivor or to memorialize a loved one who lost his or her fight with the disease.
ACS CAN is the non-profit, non-partisan advocacy affiliate organization of the American Cancer Society, which is dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage lawmakers, candidates and government officials to support laws and policies that will make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer. For more information, visit www.acscan.org
