WASHINGTON – March 8, 2011 – The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote today on FY 2011 spending proposals that would directly impact the potential for progress in the national effort to defeat cancer. Funding for biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and proven cancer prevention and control programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) hang in the balance. Senators will also vote on whether to allow enforcement of key provisions of the Affordable Care Act that are critical to people with cancer and their families to proceed as scheduled.
Following is a statement from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN):
“Senators have the power to restore a proposed 5.2 percent cut to medical research funding, which is critical to capitalizing on recent advances such as genetics-based treatments. Without proper funding, we will squander this historic opportunity to promote further progress by leveraging recent advances in cancer detection and treatment.
“Lawmakers should also nullify the 21 percent cut to the CDC in the House-passed spending bill. Proven cancer screening programs at the CDC, such as the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, are on the line. The program has provided 9 million mammograms and Pap tests to more than 3.7 million medically underserved and uninsured women in its 20-year history, but it serves fewer than 1 in 5 eligible women under current funding and would be further hampered without sustained funding.
“Cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones are also counting on senators to implement critical patient protections as enacted by the Affordable Care Act, such as bans on lifetime dollar limits on coverage, pre-existing condition exclusions and coverage rescissions when policyholders become sick. Additionally, it is critical to protect the historic federal investment in prevention through the new Public Health Fund, and federal oversight of the new Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan providing coverage to those who need it most.
“ACS CAN volunteers across the country sent nearly 9,000 communications into congressional offices leading up to the House spending bill vote, urging lawmakers to oppose severe cuts that would mark a major setback in the fight against cancer. Cancer advocates will continue to press lawmakers to sustain funding for cancer research and prevention programs in a final bill.”
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.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Alissa Havens or Steven Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (202) 661-5772 or (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
