New Jersey Action Center

2012 American Cancer Society New Jersey Priorities <PDF 234KB>

2012 Budget Priorities:

Tobacco Control Program Funding: Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer. And the vast majority of cases are caused by smoking. Yet New Jersey has virtually eliminated its tobacco control program budget. State funding has dropped from $30 million in 2003 to $1 million today. New Jersey is now ranked 43rd among states’ per capita spending on tobacco control. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that New Jersey spend $119 million annually. And the money is there. The state collects nearly $1 billion in tobacco revenues. The state must reverse this decline.

Request: Increase tobacco control funding from $1 million to $30 million.

Breast, Cervical and Colorectal Cancer Screening Program: This important program provides uninsured New Jerseyans with potentially life-saving cancer screenings. Despite a growing number of uninsured New Jerseyans, state funding for life-saving mammograms and colon screening has remained flat. As a result, some were turned away or had to delay scheduled tests when funding ran out last year.

Request: Increase funding for New Jersey’s CEED Program from $6 million to $7 million.

Cancer Research: Since 1983, the NJ Commission for Cancer Research (NJCCR) has funded promising cancer research in New Jersey. A recent study showed that the NJCCR leveraged over $10 in federal funds for every $1 in state monies appropriated. However, its annual $1 million appropriation was eliminated in 2010, leaving just voluntary funding (provided through an income tax check off and "conquer cancer" license plate fees). This move jeopardized promising research in the Garden State.

Request: Restore the program’s base appropriation and add to it revenues generated by the current taxpayer filer and license fee programs.

Medicaid: Medicaid provides vitally important health care services to nearly 18,000 New Jersey residents with cancer, more than half of them below age 65. Reducing benefits and increasing out-of-pocket costs can affect patient’s ability to get the care they need.

Request: Ensure that cancer patients covered by Medicaid are adequately covered.

2012 Policy Priorities:

Health Insurance Coverage: Well over one million New Jersey residents lack health insurance. For those with life-threatening illnesses, that lack of coverage can be deadly. States are creating Health Insurance Exchanges that would pool the risk of the uninsured and small businesses and negotiate with insurers to offer affordable, high quality coverage. These states are modeling their programs on the one pioneered by Massachusetts. If states create such Health Insurance Exchanges, the federal government will pick up the cost.

Request: Establish a consumer-friendly, state-operated Health Insurance Exchange.

Nutrition: There is a growing body of scientific evidence linking poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle with increased cancer risks. Indeed, such research has suggested that – outside of tobacco use – such behaviors are a leading cause of cancer incidence.

Request: Support legislation that promotes the use of healthy foods and encourages a more active lifestyle.

Pain Management and Palliative care: Promoting quality of life and preventing suffering for every patient, in every care setting, and for every type of illness are essential aspects of delivering high quality and patient-centered care. But today’s health system often falls short in addressing pain, physical symptoms, emotional concerns, and other chronic care needs that are increasingly becoming the norm for more patients, survivors and their family caregivers facing serious illness like cancer – quality of life care needs that can now span over many years or even decades.

Although the reasons for inadequate quality of life care of the seriously ill are many, most stem from a medical culture that is focused on curing individual diseases and a health system that is designed to reimburse disease-specific care.

Request: Take action to integrate palliative care earlier in the course of illness as an essential element of providing quality patient-centered care, including, managing physical and psychosocial symptoms; and ensuring adequate pain treatment knowledge and capacity.

Teenage Indoor Tanning Bill: The incidence of skin cancers, and in its deadliest form melanoma, is rapidly growing. The latest scientific research has documented that the use of indoor tanning beds, especially by teenagers, increases the risk of early-onset skin cancer. New Jersey law currently prohibits minors under the age of 14 from using such facilities, that ban should cover all minors up to the age of 18.

Request: Ban use of indoor tanning beds for minors (under 18) in New Jersey.

For information, contact Blair Horner at 609 393-8400

2012 American Cancer Society New Jersey Priorities <PDF 234KB>