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Advocacy

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Komen Advocacy Alliance

Cancer Services Program

The Cancer Services Program provides low-income, uninsured and underinsured New Yorkers access to life-saving services for early detection of breast, cervical and colorectal cancer. For those who qualify, the CSP provides clinical breast exams, mammograms, pap tests, pelvic examinations, colorectal cancer screening, surgical consultation and diagnostic testing to people without health coverage in every county of New York. Operating through 47 Partnerships--a network of more than 5,000 hospitals, clinics and doctors' offices--they provide the cancer testing for New Yorkers with little or no insurance.

These vital screening services have been provided to New Yorkers for 20 years and served 80,500 people with cancer screenings last year. But, this is only 20% of the estimated 550,000 people eligible that could be receiving these life-saving screenings. As more people lose their jobs and health coverage in this recession, the demand for cancer screening for the uninsured grows tremendously. We need to ensure full funding of this program in the New York State Budget.

Letter to Gov. Paterson (PDF)

Access to Clinical Trials

Clinical trials help scientists and doctors deliver new scientific discoveries to patients, determine which treatments are safe and effective, and offer a lifeline for people with life-threatening illnesses like cancer. Each year, thousands of people gain access to the highest-quality cancer care and receive new treatments before they are widely available by participating in a clinical trial. Millions more benefit from the findings. Despite these benefits, less than 5 percent of cancer patients today participate in clinical trials--of the more than 1.4 million Americans diagnosed with cancer each year. We should work to overcome the barriers patients face when enrolling in clinical trials, such as transportation costs, a lack of education about clinical trials, and patient navigation for patients from outlying areas to find these studies.

Oral Chemotherapy Equity

Oral chemotherapy is quickly emerging as an attractive and necessary option for select patients who, with support from their doctors, will comply with the prescribed oral regimens and self-monitor for potential complications. While oral chemotherapy drugs have been around for decades, they have been developing at an increasing rate in recent years. In fact, more than a quarter of the 400 anti-cancer agents in the pipeline today are intended as oral drugs.

Unfortunately, health insurance practices lag behind the state of the science. For example, there is a significant difference in the amount cancer patients must pay out of pocket for an oral drug and how much they pay for an intravenous product. Intravenous therapies are traditionally covered under a medical benefit, under which most patients are only responsible for an office copayment for each visit and are not required to pay a separate fee for the intravenous drug. By contrast, oral chemotherapy is generally covered under a prescription drug benefit, which tends to have higher copayments. We must ensure health insurance plans provide coverage for oral cancer drugs on a basis no less favorable than the coverage provided for intravenously-administered chemotherapy.
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