December 2017 Federal Update

Tax Legislation Provisions Could Harm Cancer Patients

On Saturday, Dec. 2, the U.S. Senate passed a tax bill that, in effect, repeals the nation’s health care law with no replacement plan. According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), eliminating the insurance requirement from current law would lead to 13 million more Americans being uninsured by 2027 and would increase premiums by 10 percent annually.

The Senate bill does, however, lessen the impact of two other provisions in the House bill, which passed before Thanksgiving.

The House bill repeals the medical expense deduction, which could leave cancer patients with significant out-of-pocket treatment expenses. In contrast, the Senate version leaves the medical expense deduction in place and makes it more generous.

While the House bill eliminates the orphan drug tax credit, which could hurt cancer patients by removing an incentive for the development of new, innovative treatments, the Senate bill maintains the orphan drug tax credit, but cuts it by roughly 50 percent. Losing the orphan tax credit is of profound concern for cancer patients as 65 percent of new therapeutic cancer drugs approved since 2009 received orphan status.

Additionally, the House and Senate bills each threaten charitable giving by doubling the standard deduction, thus reducing the number of tax filers who itemize their deductions and denying them the tax benefit of their charitable giving.  We are mindful that both bills would raise the cap from 50 percent to 60 percent of adjusted gross income for cash contributions that could be claimed by the small percent of filers who would continue to itemize, but the increased cap would not incentivize non-itemizing taxpayers to give to charity – and would ultimately harm communities nationwide that rely on social and medical services provided by charitable organizations.

Appropriations for Cancer Research and Prevention

In March, the President’s proposed budget included cuts to NIH of $7.2B and cuts to NCI of $1.2B, and cut funding for the CDC’s Cancer Control Program and eliminated several lines at CDC including CRC, Ovarian, and Prostate.

Throughout this year, both the House and Senate appropriations committees rejected all proposed cuts to the CDC and

• The Senate approved a bill that would increase overall funding for NIH by $2B, including almost $170 mil for NCI 
• The House approved a bill that would increase overall funding for NIH by $1.1B, including almost $81 mil for NCI

The Federal Government is currently operating under a Continuing Resolution (CR) that will fund the government until December 22^nd.  (This package also includes language that would allow states to continue to draw down funds for CHIP until December 31^st.)  

It seems increasingly likely that we will see another CR on December 22^nd that will bring us into January.

ACS CAN’s ask is that the House and Senate increase NIH funding by $2B as included in the Senate bill as part of the final omnibus package.

Tobacco Corrective Statements

On Nov. 24, the major U.S. tobacco companies began publishing a series of court-mandated “corrective statements” in advertisements acknowledging that smoking is deadly and that they deliberately formulated cigarettes to be more addictive. A total of five full-page statements will run in major newspapers from November through March. Corrective statements on primetime television began running that same week. A total of 260 television spots will air over 12 months.

In 2005, the American Cancer Society joined five other public health organizations – the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network and the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund (a 501c4 affiliate of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids) – as intervenors in the case to ensure the public health interests were effectively presented to the court.

Media coverage of American Cancer Society and ACS CAN’s role in the corrective statements has been extensive. To date, there have been more than 1,000 clips that have highlighted our involvement in the case and our continued call for action for lawmakers at all levels of government to pass proven policies to reduce tobacco use. Nationally, we were featured in outlets such as NBC Nightly News, The Associated Press and CNN. Regional ACS CAN media advocacy staff have been connecting with reporters across the country to highlight the corrective statements as a rallying cry for our tobacco control efforts. An op-ed from Chris Hansen appeared in newspapers across Southern California, and local experts have been featured in local stories in  Arkansas, Colorado, New York, Oregon and Pennsylvania.

ACS CAN state teams will continue to leverage this historic opportunity to support legislative campaigns through strategically-timed letters to the editor, op-eds and additional health stories in key media outlets.