New York Action Center

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 York has slashed its tobacco control budget.  Since 2007, state funding has been cut in half.  During that time, New York has dropped from 5th to 20th among states’ per capita spending on tobacco control.  The state must reverse this decline.  The Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that New York spend $254 million annually.  And the money is there.  The state collects over $2 billion in tobacco revenues.  The Governor proposes collecting an additional $18 million by raising the tax on loose tobacco and at the same time cuts the tobacco prevention budget by $5 million.

Request:  Increase tobacco control funding from $41 million to $54.4 million.

Breast, Cervical and Colorectal Cancer Screening Program:  Uninsured New Yorkers have nowhere to turn to get potentially life-saving cancer screenings other than this important program.

Request:  Maintain funding for New York State’s Cancer Services Program at $26.7 million.

Policy Priorities
Health Insurance Coverage:  Well over two million New Yorkers lack health insurance.  For those with life-threatening illnesses, that lack of coverage can be deadly.  States have begun to create 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.

Indoor Tanning Bill:  The incidence of skin cancers, and in its deadliest form melanoma, is rapidly growing.  The latest scientific research has documented the extreme health dangers of using tanning beds.  New York 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 York.

Flavored Tobacco Restrictions:  Federal law prohibits the use of flavors other than menthol in cigarettes, but other tobacco products, including snuff and cigars are exempted.  Manufacturers of snuff and cigars have long regarded flavored merchandise as “starter” products from which teenage experimenters will “graduate” to adult brands.  An important function of flavorings is to mask from young users the harsh, toxic properties of tobacco.

Request:  Reduce children’s access to attractive flavored tobacco products, without denying them to adults, by restricting their sale to adult-only tobacco shops.

Other Cancer-related Priorities

Medicaid:  Medicaid provides vitally important health care services to more than 93,000 New Yorkers 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.

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

Request:  Support legislation that promotes healthier diets 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.  These concerns 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.

For information, contact Russell Sciandra, 518-449-5438 x12

2012 New York Legislative Priorities