2010 Alaska State Priorities
2010 State Legislative Priorities
Cancer has become one of the most preventable and increasingly curable life-threatening diseases – but only if we take the steps necessary to prevent it outright, detect it early, and improve access to care. To this end, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) in Alaska is working on the following legislative priorities in support of ACS CAN and the American Cancer Society’s shared mission to end cancer as a major health problem.
Expanding Cancer Prevention, Treatment, and Survivorship
· Colorectal Cancer Screening Coverage – ACS CAN continues working to expand insurance coverage for colon cancer screening for non-state-regulated plans, bringing them to parity with Alaska state law, which requires screening coverage according to ACS guidelines.
· Physical Activity and Nutrition – ACS CAN supports funding for Alaska’s Obesity Prevention and Control Program and its collaborative effort to prevent childhood obesity and chronic disease, such as cancer.
· Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening – ACS CAN supports appropriations for the Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program to ensure adequate funding is available to maintain the program’s current capacity and expand to meet unmet needs.
· Alaska Cancer Registry – ACS CAN supports funding for the Alaska Cancer Registry efforts to collect incidence and survival data and monitor cancer trends for all cancer patients who reside in the state of Alaska.
Ensuring Access to Quality Care
· Health Care Reform – Inadequate access to timely, quality health care is one of the greatest barriers to winning the war on cancer. ACS CAN supports measures to achieve adequate, available, affordable, and administratively simple health insurance coverage for all without regard to health status or risk.
· Clinical Trials – ACS CAN supports SB10 to require insurance coverage for routine care costs associated with participation in clinical trials. ACS CAN will also work with self-insured (not state-regulated) plans to follow the state law change and timeline and collaborate with state Comprehensive Cancer Control Partnership to increase clinical trials understanding among cancer patients and providers.
Lung Cancer and Tobacco Control
· Smoke-Free – ACS CAN continues to work on comprehensive smoke-free campaigns and capacity building. ACS CAN will also continue education to increase knowledge level on this issue and oppose any weak or bad bills.
· Tobacco Prevention Program – ACS CAN supports increased funding for Alaska’s Tobacco Prevention and Control Program to expand work around smokeless tobacco use in rural and Alaska Native communities. ACS CAN supports protecting Alaska’s Tobacco Use Education and Cessation Fund thereby preserving funding for tobacco prevention efforts. ACS CAN supports maintaining strong enforcement of youth access laws and guarding against attempts to weaken these laws.
· Tobacco Taxes – ACS CAN supports measures to increase the price of cigarettes and other tobacco products. ACS CAN opposes measures to change the tax structure of smokeless products from “price-based” to “weight based,” which would effectively reduce the price of certain tobacco products.
· Youth Risk Behavior Survey – ACS CAN supports HB130 and SB101 which would improve youth tobacco use reporting.
For More Information, Contact: Emily Nenon, Alaska Government Relations Director, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Great West Division · Office 907.273.2097 · Fax 907.273.2073 · www.acscan.org/alaska
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy partner 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 acscan.org.
