JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Aug. 9, 2018 – Missouri falls short when it comes to implementing policies and passing legislation to prevent and reduce suffering and death from cancer. According to the latest edition of “How Do You Measure Up?: A Progress Report on State Legislative Activity to Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality,” Missouri measured up to policy recommendations in just two of the nine issue areas. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network released the report today.
“How Do You Measure Up?” rates states in nine specific areas of public policy that can help fight cancer, including increased access to care through Medicaid, funding for cancer screening programs, tobacco control policies and restricting indoor tanning devices for minors. The report also looks at whether a state provides a balanced approach to pain medication and if it has passed policies proven to increase patient quality of life.
“This report confirms that we must do more to reduce suffering and death from cancer,” said Tim Freeman, Missouri grassroots manager for ACS CAN. “In 2018 alone, more than 35,000 Missourians will be diagnosed with cancer. We owe it to them and everyone at risk of developing the disease to do what we know works to prevent cancer and improve access to screenings and treatment.”
Freeman said Missouri failed to measure up in nearly every area of tobacco control, which included cigarette excise tax rates, smoke-free air laws and state funding for tobacco control.
“Right now, more than one million adults in Missouri smoke, and nearly one-third of cancer deaths are attributable to tobacco use,” Freeman said. “We can’t expect to improve our state’s health with antiquated tobacco control laws and less than $100,000 in funding for programs to help people end their addiction. This report points our lawmakers in the right direction to stop the tobacco industry’s hold on our state and, most importantly, save more lives.”
Missouri met the report’s recommendations in two policy areas: Medicaid coverage of tobacco cessation and improving patient quality of life through palliative care.
Nationally, the report found that increased access to health coverage through Medicaid is the most met benchmark, with 34 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam, having broadened Medicaid eligibility to cover individuals under 138 percent of the federal poverty line. Smoke-free legislation is the second-most met benchmark with 25 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, considered “doing well.”
To view the complete report and details on Missouri’s grades, visit www.fightcancer.org/measure.
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.