2015 State Legislative Agenda

Cancer has become one of the most preventable and increasingly curable life-threatening diseases – but only if we take the steps necessary to prevent it outright, detect it early, and improve access to care. To this end, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) in New Mexico is working on the following legislative priorities in support of our mission to end cancer as a major health problem.

Ensuring Access to Quality Care and Implementation of 2010 Affordable Care Act

• Work with the legislature and governor to ensure that Affordable Care Act implementation works for cancer patients and cancer prevention.
• Advocate for full implementation of expanded Medicaid in New Mexico.
• Ensure preventive services remain accessible and affordable for low-income and uninsured persons.
• Protect access to crucial pain management medications for cancer patients.

Lung Cancer and Tobacco Control

• Increase funding for local service providers offering comprehensive Tobacco Use Prevention and Cessation program services following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention best practice recommendations.
• Protect against diversions of Tobacco Settlement funds to issues that are unrelated to tobacco use and chronic disease. 
• Defend the comprehensive secondhand smoke protections in the statewide Dee Johnson Clean Indoor Air Act
• Defend against inadequate e-cigarette legislation that would compromise effective regulation of e-cigarettes in the future.

Cancer Prevention, Treatment, and Survivorship

• Protect funding for the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program and other cancer-related chronic disease programs at the New Mexico Department of Health.
• Protect funding for the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program through Medicaid.

For More Information, Contact: Sandra Adondakis, NM Government Relations Director

American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network · [email protected] · Ph. 505.262.6019 · www.fightcancer.org/newmexico

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.