Nearly half of all states are falling short on legislative solutions to prevent and fight cancer, according to a new report released today by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). However, despite budget crises in several states, some state lawmakers still made positive progress in the fight against a disease that will kill an estimated 569,000 people in the United States this year.
The new report, How Do You Measure Up?: A Progress Report on State Legislative Activity to Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality, was released today at the National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting in Louisville, KY. The report finds that 23 states have reached benchmarks on none or only one of the six legislative priority areas measured by ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society. No state has met all of the benchmarks for effective cancer-fighting policies.
The report also provides an overview of how passage of the new health care law, the Affordable Care Act, will dramatically change the landscape of state health policy in the coming years.
"In the best interests of their constituents, state legislators should support laws and policies that help people fight cancer by emphasizing disease prevention, making health care affordable and accessible and focusing on patient-centered care during and after treatment," said Christopher W. Hansen, president of ACS CAN. "This duty is all the more important with passage of the Affordable Care Act. Cancer advocates will be working with state legislators to ensure that the new health care system is as strong as possible for people with cancer and their families."
How Do You Measure Up? measures state policies and provides a blueprint for effective legislation on six priority areas: breast and cervical cancer early detection program funding; access to care for the uninsured; colorectal screening coverage laws; smoke-free laws; tobacco prevention program funding; and tobacco taxes. Failure to address these issues places barriers in front of those who seek proper preventive care, diagnosis and treatment of cancer.
A color-coded system is used to identify how well a state is doing. Green represents the benchmark position, showing that a state has adopted well-balanced policies and good practices; yellow indicates moderate movement toward the benchmark and red shows where states are falling short.
No state reached a benchmark in all six issues and only one state – Hawaii – reached benchmarks in five of the six priority legislative areas in the fight against cancer. Seven states – Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee – did not meet the benchmark on any of the six issues, and another 16 received high marks on only one issue.
In addition to the six focus areas on which states were rated, the report examines how states are measuring up on issues such as the affordability of health coverage in the individual market and through Medicaid. It also details efforts on pain management as well as state investments in nutrition and physical activity promotion.
"As advocates, we have the responsibility to educate the public on how to prevent and treat cancer effectively, but we cannot do it unless state and local policymakers take action," said Robert E. Youle, a cancer survivor and volunteer chair of the ACS CAN board of directors. "The most effective solutions will save countless lives and potentially millions of dollars in health care costs, and in many cases, it costs a state little or nothing to do the right thing."
Despite budget pressures this past year, some state lawmakers have made positive progress in the fight against cancer. Since July 2009, when the report was last published, 11 states and the District of Columbia have passed tobacco tax increases, bringing to 47 the total number of states with tobacco tax increases since 2002 and increasing the current national average to $1.45 (up from $1.28 in 2009). Research has consistently shown that every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by 7 percent and overall cigarette consumption by about 4 percent.
New York now has the highest tax in the nation at $4.35 per pack and is also the first state with a tobacco tax over $4. South Carolina's historic 50-cent increase came after a decade-long battle. Until recently, the state had the lowest tobacco tax in the nation and had not passed an increase since 1977. Missouri now has the lowest tax in the nation at 17 cents.