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Deficit Reduction Plan Should Not Compromise National Fight Against Cancer

December 12, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- December 12, 2012 -- The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is calling on the White House and congressional leaders to make cancer a top priority as negotiations continue over reducing the federal deficit. Christopher W. Hansen, president of ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, sent a letter today to President Obama and the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate calling on them to maintain the urgency of the fight against cancer, which kills 1,500 people in America each day. The Budget Control Act of 2011 made deep cuts in discretionary spending -- $1.5 trillion over ten years -- that are already impeding our nation's capacity to undertake new and ongoing cancer research investigations in labs in every state in the country, Hansen wrote. The potential sequestration of additional funds would have a further devastating impact on this work, cutting as much as $2.5 billion more from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including more than $450 million from cancer research specifically. The letter also stresses the importance of maintaining benefits under Medicare and Medicaid, which are often the only options for health care coverage for many cancer patients.

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. For more information, visit https://www.fightcancer.org/. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Alissa Crispino or Steven Weiss American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Phone: (202) 661-5772 or (202) 661-5711 Email: [email protected] or [email protected] #cancer #acscan #fiscalcliff #cancerresearch

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