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7-8-10 Affordable Care Act Update
July 9, 2010
Below is this week’s update on the Affordable Care Act. As always, thank you for all you do every day to support laws and policies that help cancer patients and their families.
FDA Takes First Step Toward Implementing Menu Labeling Provisions
This week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it will solicit comments from the public on how to proceed with the new federal menu labeling requirements under the Affordable Care Act. This will provide an opportunity for interested parties to submit data and other information relevant to the implementation of the menu labeling provisions in the new law.
The provisions require restaurants and retail food establishments that are part of a chain with 20 or more locations that offer substantially the same menu items to list calorie content information on menus and menu boards, including drive-through menu boards. Other nutrition information — total calories, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, total carbohydrates, complex carbohydrates, sugars, dietary fiber, and total protein — must be made available in writing. The new law also requires vending machine operators who own or operate 20 or more vending machines to disclose the calorie content of their items.
Prior to the Affordable Care Act, some state and local governments required restaurants in their jurisdiction to post nutritional information. ACS CAN has worked on this issue on the state level for a number of years, and will submit formal comments to the FDA. The Affordable Care Act requires the FDA to issue proposed regulations to carry out these provisions by March 23, 2011.
President Obama Appoints Dr. Donald Berwick CMS Administrator
On Wednesday President Obama named Dr. Donald Berwick to be the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in a recess appointment. Berwick was nominated for the position in April. The agency has been without a permanent administrator since October 2006. Berwick will have all of the powers of a permanent appointee. However, under the Constitution his appointment will expire at the end of the next session of Congress.
Read the July 6, 2010 New York Times Article: Obama to Bypass Senate to Name Health Official.
CDC Releases Vital Signs
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a new report this week, Vital Signs, tracking the progress of breast and colorectal cancer screening in the United States. The CDC estimates that at least 10,000 lives could be saved each year if more people got screened. The Affordable Care Act will greatly improve screening rates by improving access to insurance coverage and removing cost barriers to screening. The report provides solid evidence that improvements in screening rates could yield dramatic results: 1,900 colorectal cancer deaths could be prevented each year for every 10% increase in colonoscopy screenings, while 560 deaths from breast cancer could be prevented for every 5% increase in mammogram screenings.
The full report can be found at: http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/. Liz Ward, the American Cancer Society’s vice president of surveillance and health policy research, is quoted in the Associated Press story on the report: Colon Cancer Screenings Up, Breast Rate Stalled.
Christopher W. Hansen
President
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN)