Breast cancer awareness month is about reminding those we love about the importance of getting recommended screenings to prevent breast cancer. But it's also a time to remember that unfortunately, mammograms are not accessible and affordable to all women.
I'm happy to share that starting this week, insurers are required under the Affordable Care Act to present every consumer with a Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC), a document with simple and easy-to-read information on what their plan covers and how much it costs.
A new edition of the ACS CAN report How Do You Measure Up? shows that the majority of states are not measuring up on legislative solutions to prevent and fight cancer. The report ranks where states stand on these issues that play a critical role in reducing cancer incidence and death. It measures seven specific issues.
I've shared my story with many people friends, family, fellow advocates but last week's event in Washington, D.C. was an experience I will never forget.
I recently returned from one of the best events ACS CAN hosts all year the State Lead Ambassador Summit. With one in every state, State Lead Ambassadors (SLAs) are ACS CAN's top ranking grassroots volunteers. They coordinate all volunteer-led work across their state.
With almost 6 million people dying annually from smoking-related diseases, you can see how the tobacco industry has been able to earn incredible profits from addicting people to their products using manipulating, misleading practices. In fact, in 2010, the six leading tobacco companies in the world made a collective profit of $35.1 billion, the equivalent of the profits of Coca Cola, McDonalds and Microsoft combined.
Sometimes we understand things intellectually but not always emotionally. Sometimes reality needs to touch us in a more visceral way to be effective. The CDC's new ad campaign, Tips from Former Smokers, features real-life stories of people who have suffered from the harmful effects of smoking. It helps us to understand more fully the real impacts of smoking.
March is National Nutrition Month, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to share some of ACS CAN's efforts to reduce overweight and obesity, which are proven to cause cancer.
The report includes the latest information about the trends of youth tobacco use and its devastating impact on health. The report also details the tobacco industry's continued efforts to addict kids to its deadly products through insidious marketing and promotion directed at youth.
This week, I was invited to speak about the realities of Massachusetts's health care reform at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network's National Forum on the Future of Health Care in Washington, DC. Because our reform serves as the model for the Affordable Care Act, and because our experience is so often misrepresented in the public discourse, I welcomed the opportunity.