Susan G. Komen® Rallies Patient Advocates on Capitol Hill, Calling for Equal Access to Cancer Services and Federal Investment in Research
WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Susan G. Komen, the world’s leading breast cancer organization, and more
than 120 patient advocates gathered in the nation’s capital today,
meeting with nearly 350 policymakers to ensure access to breast health
services, investment in biomedical research, and reduced insurance
barriers to breast cancer treatment.
“Today we bring together survivors, friends and advocates to work toward
our shared mission to end breast cancer,” said Komen Interim President
and CEO Ellen Willmott. “Since 1982, Komen has worked with
representatives on both sides of the aisle to ensure that we are
pursuing cures for cancer, and in the interim, ensuring that women and
men everywhere receive high-quality, timely breast cancer care.”
The Komen advocates encouraged their congressional representatives to
maintain vital safety-net programs such as the National Breast and
Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, which pays for screenings for
low-income and uninsured women.
They also stressed the urgency to make changes to insurance regulations
that can sometimes act as financial barriers to cancer care, such as
those that limit access to oral anti-cancer drugs due to significantly
higher cost-sharing practices compared to traditional intravenous
chemotherapy. Specifically, Komen advocates encouraged their elected
officials to support the Cancer Drug Parity Act (H.R.1409) –
re-introduced by U.S. Representatives Leonard Lance (R-NJ-07) and Brian
Higgins (D-NY-26) earlier this week.
“We want to thank Congressman Lance for introducing this vital
legislation on oral parity, which we’ve already passed in the state of
New Jersey,” said Director of Community Health of Komen North Jersey
Tina Jacobs, a constituent of NJ-07. “We’ve seen the impact of this bill
in our community, including especially huge benefits for women with
metastatic breast cancer, which is why Komen and our Affiliate are proud
to support this bill.”
Komen also is renewing its call for increased investment in breast
cancer research. As biomedical research budgets at the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) and Department of Defense (DOD) fail to keep
pace with medical inflation, innovative cancer treatments are at risk.
“Although organizations like ours invest millions in breast cancer
research each year, curing cancer will require the resources of the
federal government,” said Willmott. “Every dollar invested in biomedical
research brings us closer to an end to breast cancer, and all cancers.”
The largest funder of breast cancer research outside of the U.S.
government, Komen works in laboratories and communities nationwide. To
date, the organization has invested more than $2.9 billion into its
mission. Read
more about Komen’s 2017-18 Advocacy Priorities.
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 $920 million in research
and provided more than $2 billion in funding to screening, education,
treatment and psychosocial support programs serving millions of people
in more than 30 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.
Contacts
Susan G. Komen
Joni Avery, 972-855-4382
press@komen.org
