WASHINGTON, D.C.—November 11, 2016—Congress has an historic opportunity to make a significant difference in the lives of American cancer patients, survivors and their families during the upcoming lame-duck session of Congress. With the election over, work resumes on a final federal budget, the 21st Century Cures bill and legislation designed to improve patient access to palliative care and services from diagnosis through treatment and beyond.
“Congress has the potential to meaningfully improve the entire continuum of cancer care in our country—from prevention, detection and research to symptom management. These next few weeks will be critical to accelerating progress against this disease,” said Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN).
Among Congress’s top priorities should be increasing funding for the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute through the FY 17 appropriations process and funding the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative through the 21st Century Cures legislation. This initiative offers clear next steps to accelerate the pace of progress against the disease, including creating a large-scale patient network to gather information about tumor profiles, developing an immunotherapy translational science network and improving evidence-based approaches to early detection and prevention.
Additional action is also needed on the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (H.R. 3119/S. 2748). The legislation, which enjoys substantial bipartisan co-sponsorship in the House and Senate, would establish new workforce development and training programs for doctors, nurses, and social workers, educate the public and providers about the palliative care delivery model of care, and expand and intensify federal research funding on palliative care, and pain and symptom management.
“There is a serious need for cancer patients and survivors to have access to supportive care that treats the whole patient, not just their disease,” said Hansen. “Expanding patient access to palliative care is key to helping transform the way we care for cancer patients. Access to palliative care has been shown to improve patient quality of life and provides better quality care at lower cost.”
Promising new advances in cancer treatment and care also require adequate access to appropriate health insurance. The elimination of pre-existing condition exclusions, lifetime coverage caps and the practice of rescissions are just a few of the provisions ACS CAN supports on behalf of cancer patients.
“These critical protections must remain in place no matter what changes are to come in our nation’s health care system,” said Hansen. “Making meaningful progress against cancer requires a commitment to research, prevention and affordable, meaningful access to care. On behalf of the 1.7 million Americans diagnosed with cancer this year and all those touched by this disease, we urge Congress to prioritize cancer research and cancer care now and in the session to come.”
About ACS CAN
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 www.fightcancer.org.
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