DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In anticipation of the president’s State of the Union Address this evening and the policy debates in Congress that will follow, Susan G. Komen®, the nation’s leading breast cancer organization, highlighted key priorities for the organization that have the potential for bipartisan agreement.
Komen is committed to doing everything we can to save lives from breast cancer, which claims more than 42,000 lives in the U.S. each year. As part of that commitment, Komen identifies key issues that hold the most potential for impact and works to mobilize people affected by this disease to achieve lasting change to save lives.
“Breast cancer is not a partisan issue, as everyone in this country has been touched in some way by this dreadful disease,” said Paula Schneider, Komen’s President and CEO. “Together, we can drive government action to make the broad, systemic and lasting change we need to help us save lives.”
The following issues will form the basis for Komen’s state and federal priorities in 2019 and 2020:
Ensure Access to Affordable, High-Quality Health Care
- Protect access to affordable, high-quality health care for all patients.
- Support Medicaid expansion and expanded eligibility for Medicaid’s Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program (BCCTP).
- Ensure continued access to Medicaid coverage without burdensome restrictions.
Advance Breast Cancer Research
- Expand federal funding for all biomedical research, especially breast cancer research conducted at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and at the Department of Defense (DOD).
- Support state funding for breast cancer research programs conducted through state institutions.
- Support increased education, utilization of and access to clinical trials for all patient populations.
Increase Coverage and Access to Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnostic Services
- Support federal and state funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP).
- Support policies to modernize NBCCEDP state programs to expand eligibility and provide breast cancer screening and diagnostic services for additional populations.
- Reduce or eliminate out-of-pocket costs for diagnostic imaging.
Reduce Insurance Barriers to Treatment
- Protect patient preference, enhance coverage, reduce cost and address barriers to breast cancer treatments, including those that would require oral parity, preclude specialty tiers, prevent step therapy protocols, prevent non-medical switching and limit patients’ out-of-pocket costs.
About Susan G. Komen®
Susan G. Komen is the world’s largest breast cancer organization, funding more breast cancer research than any other nonprofit outside of the federal government while providing real-time help to those facing the disease. Komen has set a Bold Goal to reduce the current number of breast cancer deaths by 50 percent in the U.S. by 2026. Since its founding in 1982, Komen has funded more than $988 million in research and provided more than $2.2 billion in funding to screening, education, treatment and psychosocial support programs serving millions of people in more than 60 countries worldwide. Komen was founded by Nancy G. Brinker, who promised her sister, Susan G. Komen, that she would end the disease that claimed Suzy’s life. That promise has become Komen’s promise to all people facing breast cancer. Visit komen.org or call 1-877 GO KOMEN. Connect with us on social at ww5.komen.org/social.
