campaigns : Campaign Archive

July 2005 IlliNOISY News

Due to the holiday weekend, this month's edition is a day later than usual. The normal schedule will resume in August. Watch for the latest edition in your inbox the first Tuesday of each month!

IN THIS ISSUE:

Advocate Story: So Much to Fight For!
2005 NBCC Advocacy Conference Photos & Highlights
Has Your U.S. Representative Signed on as a Co-Sponsor for the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act?
Health Policy News
Study Shows Most Oppose Medicaid Funding Cuts
2005 Era of Hope Meeting
State Legislative Update
Federal Legislative Update
Did You Know?

Advocate Story: So Much to Fight For!

“I started working with Y-ME when a close friend of mine was diagnosed with breast cancer. Now it seems as if I have so much more to fight for by knowing and meeting so many amazing women each year at the NBCC Annual Advocacy Training Conference. Sometimes I think we take for granted what we have and sometimes don't realize what we are ultimately fighting for! I had a woman stop me at the conference and thank me for fighting for her. We stopped and talked for a bit and she was fighting breast cancer for the 3rd time and was thanking me for not being a survivor and coming to this conference to lobby for issues that affected her. How humbling for me as I reflect on this experience. The party, networking and sightseeing are great but at the core is the difference we make by taking the time to visit with our congressmen & women and learn so much to take back to our own communities.”

~Marianne G., Tinley Park, IL

If you have a story from your work as an IlliNOISY Network Member that you’d like to share – email it to illinoisadvocacy@y-me.org.

2005 NBCC Advocacy Conference Photos & Highlights

Our IlliNOISY Delegation that attended the 2005 NBCC Annual Advocacy Training Conference was the biggest ever! We also had the biggest representation ever from Central & Southern Illinois at this year’s conference. Having advocates from all around the state of Illinois is key to forging relationships with all of our U.S. Representatives. In fact, there were only three Congressional Districts not represented in Washington, DC this year – Districts 11, 15, & 17. If you or someone you know lives in one of these districts and might be interested in attending the conference contact Alicia at ahuguelet@y-me.org!

See photos from the 2005 NBCC Advocacy Conference!

2005 Attendees Share Their Thoughts on the Conference:

“I think by attending the NBCC Conference I learned a lot about being an advocate and in reality I learned to lobby for better health care not only for women with breast cancer, but the whole country...”

~ Judy R.

"As always, the best part of the conference was the feeling of solidarity with all the other breast cancer survivors."

~ Mary C.

“The staffer in Rep. Gutierrez’s office stated that we have the right formula - educated, grassroots advocates who have a major impact on issues. This is a great endorsement for our process!”

~ Pat M.

“Being surrounded by hundreds of energetic advocates is always such an inspiring experience. The conference continues to be one of the highlights of my year and reaffirms my desire to make a difference as a staff member of Y-ME Illinois. It was also wonderful to get to know all the Illinois delegation attendees and connect with them in a unique way.”

~ Abby D.

SAVE THE DATE: 2006 NBCC Advocacy Training Conference
April 29th - May 2nd, 2006 - Washington, DC

Join us and let your Members of Congress know that breast cancer cannot be ignored!

Has Your U.S. Representative Signed on as a Co-Sponsor for the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act?

NBCC Priority #3: Enactment of the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act (H.R. 2231 / S. 757)

It is generally believed that the environment plays a role in the development of breast cancer, but the extent of that role is not understood. This critical issue must be approached thoughtfully and methodically and a national strategy for increasing knowledge in this area must be developed.

The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act would create grants for the establishment of multi-institutional, multi-disciplinary research centers to study the potential link between the environment and breast cancer. Many of our Illinois Members of Congress have signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 2231 but there are many who still have not.

Please visit the IlliNOISY Action Alert page to see if your U.S. Representative has signed on in support of the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act (H.R. 2231). If they have signed on, please thank them for co-sponsoring and if not, please call and ask them to do so!

Health Policy News

House Approves 'Patient Navigator' Bill

The House on Monday passed a bill (HR 1812) that would establish a "patient navigator" system to help uninsured patients with chronic illnesses make medical decisions, CQ Today reports. The legislation, sponsored by Rep. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), would authorize $25 million in grants over five years to establish patient navigator programs in low-income and rural communities nationwide. Read more.

Recommendations Accepted to Revamp NCI Clinical Trials System

The National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB) of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has accepted 22 strategic proposals for revamping the NCI's cancer clinical trials system and a five-year implementation plan to accomplish the changes. Advances in molecular medicine are the driving force behind the Clinical Trials Working Group (CTWG) recommendations. These advances offer enormous potential to improve cancer clinical practice by advancing beyond the toxic treatments of the past, but also create new challenges for the design and conduct of cancer clinical trials. Read more.

16 Million U.S. Residents Underinsured, Study Shows

About 16 million U.S. adults are underinsured and often go without needed medical services, medications and follow-up care, primarily because of the associated costs, according to a study published Monday on the Health Affairs Web site, the Chicago Tribune reports. Read more.

House Members Expected To Introduce Bill to Encourage Large Employers To Provide Health Coverage

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) later this month are expected to introduce legislation intended to encourage large employers such as Wal-Mart to provide health insurance to more workers. Read more.

Study Shows Most Oppose Medicaid Funding Cuts

Most U.S. Adults Say Medicaid 'Very Important,' Oppose Funding Cuts, Survey Finds

Nearly three-quarters of U.S. adults believe Medicaid is a "very important" government program and a substantial majority says state and federal Medicaid funding should not be reduced, according to a new survey released Wednesday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Conducted between April 1 and May 1, the survey involved telephoning 1,201 U.S. residents ages 18 and older. Read more.

This is story relates to:

NBCC Priority #4 - Preservation of the Medicaid Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program (BCCTP). The BCCTP provides enhanced matching funds to states to provide Medicaid coverage for treatment of breast and cervical cancer to low-income women screened and diagnosed through a federal program - expanding access to care for thousands of underserved women. Medicaid cuts could endanger not only this program but care for limited income patients. Y-ME Illinois is watching for efforts at the state level to cut Medicaid spending.

2005 Era of Hope Meeting

An important part of the DOD Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) is the Era of Hope meeting that occurs every two or three years. The purpose of this meeting is to have all research funded by the program in certain years presented to the public, through platform presentations and poster sessions. The Era of Hope program is designed by a Technical Planning Committee that includes scientists and consumers, who review the reports of the funded research and choose the themes and presentations. This year the themes were: Day One: Risk and Prevention; Day Two: Who Needs Treatment; Day Three: Focus on Treatment and Clinical Trials.

The DOD BCRP began as a result of the National Breast Cancer Coalition's 1992 campaign to dramatically increase federal funding specifically targeted to breast cancer research. Through the efforts of the hundreds of organizations that make up NBCC (including Y-ME), this program created an unprecedented partnership that unites the military, scientific, medical and breast cancer survivor and advocacy communities to develop and carry out research to end breast cancer. It is the federal government's only breast cancer research program that involves consumer advocates at both the scientific peer review and the programmatic review stages and at all levels of a scientific meeting.

Read more about this year’s Era of Hope Meeting online!

State Legislative Update

Governor Expected to Sign Bills Related to Women's Cancers into Law

On Wednesday, July 6, the Governor will sign four bills related to women's cancers. The bills being signed are:

Senate Bill 1 - Creating a special lotto ticket "Ticket for the Cure" that will generate funds for breast cancer research and services.

Senate Bill 521 - Requiring insurance companies to pay for extra surveillance tests on women at increased risk for Ovarian cancer

Senate Bill 12 - Requiring insurance companies to cover mammograms at the age and intervals considered medically necessary by the women's health provider for women under 40 years of age and having a family history of breast cancer or other risk factors.

House Bill 3564 - Adding ovarian cancer to the Penny Severns Breast and Cervical Research Fund so that researchers doing ovarian work may apply for grants. The FY06 budget also includes $100,000 for ovarian research that will be added to this Fund.

For further information on these bills visit http://www.ilga.gov.

The Illinois General Assembly recessed on May 31, 2005 and will reconvene for a veto session in the fall.

Federal Legislative Update

Legislation Recently Introduced:

H.R. 2761 - Rep. Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ) / Energy and Commerce
A bill to require that group and individual health insurance coverage provide coverage for annual screening mammography for any class of covered individuals if the coverage or plans include coverage for diagnostic mammography for such class and to provide for coverage of annual screening mammography under Medicaid.

H.Con.Res. 174 - Rep. Sue Wilkins Myrick (R-NC) / Energy and Commerce
A concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the Congress regarding fertility issues facing cancer survivors.

H.R. 2812 - Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) / Energy and Commerce
A bill to require that group and individual health insurance coverage and group health plans provide coverage of screening for breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer.

H.R. 3055 - Rep. Pete Stark (D-CA) / Ways and Means
A bill to guarantee comprehensive health care coverage for all children born after 2006.

S. 1298 - Sen. Blanche Lambert Lincoln (D-AR) / Finance
A bill to permit states to cover low-income youth up to age 23.

S. 1303 - Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV) / Finance
A bill to guarantee comprehensive health care coverage for all children born after 2006.

You can read bills in full text format online.

Did You Know?

Treatment costs for uninsured U.S. residents indirectly account for about $1 of every $12 insured U.S. residents spend on health insurance premiums, according to a study by Families USA. Overall, the cost of medical services for uninsured residents increases annual health insurance rates by an average of $341 for individual workers and $922 for families.

Only forty-four percent of enrollees in consumer-directed health plans are as satisfied as they were with more traditional insurance plans, according to a survey by McKinsey.