CPAN News Bulletin – August 2024
Upcoming Advocacy Chats - Educational Conversations on Cancer Advocacy and Policy Issues
Next Advocacy Chat in September
Be sure to catch up on recent Advocacy Chat sessions about health equity, Sit In My Chair visits, and pharmacy benefit managers. Rose Gerber, MS, COA's director of patient advocacy and education, and guests explore ways for advocates to advance cancer care.
Stream Advocacy Chats on @OncologyCOA's YouTube Channel
CPAN Chapter Spotlights: Cancer & Blood Specialists of Arizona and Desert Hematology Oncology
COA welcomes two CPAN chapters from Arizona: Cancer & Blood Specialists of Arizona and Desert Hematology Oncology.
In-person launch events earlier this summer celebrated the commitment to patient advocacy.
Both chapters will offer a range of educational and practice-based advocacy opportunities to patients, caregivers, community oncologists, nurses, health care administrators, and others.
Cancer News You Can Use
Incidence of 17 Cancers on the Rise in Younger Generations, Major New Study Says- ABC News 07/31
Gen X and Millennials in the United States are at greater risk for 17 cancers than were previous generations, according to a study by the American Cancer Society. The cancers with the most rapidly growing incidence among younger generations are thyroid, pancreatic, kidney, small intestine, and liver cancer in females, all of which were diagnosed at rates two to four times greater for people born in 1990 compared to 1955.
Better Screening Key to Closing U.S. 'Race Gap' in Colon Cancer Deaths - HealthDay News 07/24
Black Americans are almost a third more likely to die from colon cancer than their white peers, and one key to closing that divide could be better cancer screening, according to research published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Using sophisticated mathematical modeling, researchers calculated that if the gap in proper follow-up was eliminated, that could cut the race gap for colon cancer incidence by 5.2%, and for colon cancer deaths by 9.3%.
U.S. Drug Industry Middlemen Defend Business Model Amid Accusations of Raising Patient Costs - Reuters 07/24
U.S. pharmaceutical industry middlemen defended their role in the health care system during a Congressional hearing after committee members accused them of pushing patients toward expensive treatments even when lower-cost options are available. Executives from the top three U.S. drug benefit managers—UnitedHealth’s OptumRx, Cigna's ExpressScripts, and CVS Health's Caremark—said their business models save health plan members money, including plans run by labor unions.
What is 340B?
Patients should be able to access the treatments they need at an affordable price, but instead, hospital corporations use the 340B program to profit at patients’ expense. Learn more about 340B in this Cancer Policy Minute with COA's Executive Director Ted Okon.
Resources for Chapters
Time to Screen is a campaign with COA and CancerCare to help connect people with accessible cancer screening locations. Visit the Time to Screen Advocacy Toolkit to learn more.