The esteemed South African political leader Nelson Mandela once said, "Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead." As we approach the end of the year, I am proud to celebrate the victories we achieved in 2024, and I applaud ACS CAN's team for both a job well done and careful preparation for critical mission advocacy in 2025.
This year, we have demonstrated our collective power by consistently reminding lawmakers about the critical importance of research conducted at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) for cancer patients and their families. In these last weeks, we are using every last opportunity we have to move our priority agenda before the 118th Congressional session comes to a close.
Volunteers continue to make phone calls, visit offices, and send messages asking lawmakers to pass increases to cancer research funding, pass the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) Screening Act, and pass the Screening for Communities to Receive Early and Equitable Needed Services (SCREENS) for Cancer Act to reauthorize the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program. Our recent ads in D.C. and key congressional districts urge Congress to act before the end of the year.
In this past month, supported by our volunteers, ACS CAN has generated:
- Over 17,500 calls to Capitol Hill offices
- Over 57,000 emails to Capitol Hill offices
- Over 700 X messages directed to Members of Congress
- Key visits and meetings with Members of Congress, both virtually and in district drop-bys
- Over 265,000 impressions through our print and digital advertising
As we get closer to the Continuing Resolution deadline on December 20th, it's increasingly likely Congress will extend the Fiscal Year 2025 funding deadline into calendar year 2025. However, we will maintain our momentum into the new year. Looking forward, we expect the shift in the federal landscape will bring both challenges and opportunities. Our commitment to our non-partisan agenda remains strong, and we will continue to build and maintain connections in the new Congress and Administration.
As we navigate these changes, we will call on federal champions – existing and new –to stand with us and work to support our priorities for cancer patients and their families. Looking ahead to the start of the new Congress in January, our 100-day federal priorities will focus on:
- Protecting access to Medicaid;
- Extending the ACA Enhanced Tax Credits; and
- Increasing cancer research and prevention funding.
In state capitals across the nation, we are proud of all our biomarker wins this year, celebrating the now 20 states that have adopted legislation to expand access to this game-changing test that open access to innovative precision medicine. We will continue this work in 2025, along with efforts to expand Medicaid in the ten remaining states that have yet to do so. We are encouraged that more than half a million North Carolinians have enrolled in Medicaid expansion since last December.
Please join me in celebrating our 2024 wins and preparing for the all-important work ahead. Thank you for your ongoing leadership in our work to end cancer as we know it for everyone through public policy advocacy. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful holiday season!
Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone.
Lisa
State Updates
In Texas, San Antonio voted to add e-cigarettes to their existing smoke-free ordinance, with an effective date of January 1. Dallas is expected to vote on strong e-cigarette language at its council meeting today.
Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey signed ACS CAN priority legislation regarding follow-up breast cancer screenings in mid-November.
In New York, ACS CAN launched an ad marquee over the Hard Rock Café Times Square location for the entire month of November, with ads on paid family and medical leave featured.
In Idaho, pre-legislative session tactics to protect Medicaid expansion are underway targeting 18 newly elected state legislators with patch through calls and volunteer introductions. newspaper ads are also planned in key legislator papers.
Judicial Updates
25 Groups Representing Patients and Health Care Professionals Urge U.S. Court of Appeals to Preserve Nondiscrimination Protections for LGBTQ+ Patients: At the end of November, ACS CAN led 24 other groups representing millions of health care professionals and patients with serious and chronic health conditions in filing an amicus curiae (also known as friend of the court) brief, in the case of State of Tennessee et al. v. Becerra in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The amicus brief supports maintaining nondiscrimination protections in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) patients receiving health care services.
At the core of the case is whether the nondiscrimination provision in the ACA should be interpreted broadly to include protections against discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, or narrowly based on the sex a person is assigned to at birth, as a lower court ruled in July 2024.
In the amicus brief, the groups note that LGBTQ+ patients already face major health disparities, and if upheld, the lower court's decision would reduce protections for LGBTQ+ individuals against discrimination and further exacerbate these disparities, resulting in even worse health outcomes. In the amicus brief, the groups note that LGBTQ+ patients already face major health disparities, and if upheld, the lower court's decision would reduce protections for LGBTQ+ individuals against discrimination and further exacerbate these disparities, resulting in even worse health outcomes. LGBTQ+ cancer patients and survivors reported through ACS CAN Survivor Views that they delayed care because of fears and concerns about discrimination. Read more. ACS CAN also led a similar amicus brief in a related case in early December.
In a Victory for Public Health, U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Tobacco Industry's Challenge to Graphic Cigarette Warnings:
The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a tobacco industry challenge to graphic health warnings on cigarette packs and advertisements required under a 2020 Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rule.The court's decision to deny certiorari leaves in place a March ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that upheld the FDA's proposed warnings. The Fifth Circuit found that the warnings are "factual and uncontroversial" and do not violate the First Amendment.
The Supreme Court's decision is a giant step toward finally implementing graphic cigarette warnings in the United States. Graphic warnings are a best-practice policy, and they are long-overdue in the United States. Graphic warnings were first required by Congress in 2009 as part of the Tobacco Control Act, but the rule issued by FDA to implement the statute has been repeatedly delayed by tobacco industry legal challenges. The graphic warnings contained in FDA’s rule demonstrate the truth about the deadly consequences of smoking and will promote greater public understanding of the many ways in which smoking harms the human body.
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments in Seminal Flavored E-Cigarettes Case:
The highest court in the land heard oral arguments on December 2nd in a major e-cigarette case that will determine whether many flavored e-cigarette products will be able to remain on the market. ACS CAN worked with tobacco control partners to file numerous amicus briefs supporting the FDA in cases across the nation in which the agency issued marketing denial orders (MDOs) for flavored e-cigarette products as part of the premarket review process. FDA has won the majority of these challenges, and eight different circuit courts have upheld MDOs, while only two circuits have vacated them. Most notably, the full en banc panel of the 5th Circuit had ruled against the FDA. This "circuit split" culminated in the oral arguments at the US Supreme Court in FDA v. Wages and White Lion Investments dba Triton Distribution. ACS CAN and other tobacco control partners had filed an amicus brief at the high court supporting the agency. A decision should be issued by summer.
After the adverse ruling by the 5th Circuit en banc described above, manufacturers of flavored e-cigarettes all began to file their legal challenges to FDA's MDOs in the 5th Circuit. FDA v. R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. concerns where an e-cigarette manufacturer can properly sue to challenge an FDA MDO. The Tobacco Control Act allows "any person adversely affected" by a denial order to sue in the D.C. Circuit or the circuit in which the person resides or has its principal place of business. When Reynolds received denial orders for its menthol Vuse e-cigarettes, it did not sue in the D.C. Circuit or its home Fourth Circuit, both of which had previously upheld FDA MDOs for flavored e-cigarettes. Instead, Reynolds added retailers located in the 5th Circuit that sold menthol Vuse and sued in that circuit. The 5th Circuit allowed them to do it. However, the Supreme Court granted FDA's petition to review the 5th Circuit's venue holding. ACS CAN joined an amicus brief filed in late November supporting FDA.
Menthol cigarettes:
The African American Tobacco Leadership Council and other groups sued FDA in 2020 to force the agency to issue a rule prohibiting menthol in cigarettes. ACS CAN and partners supported plaintiffs with an amicus brief. The agency issued a draft rule in April of 2022 that has not been finalized. Plaintiffs had dismissed their lawsuit after the draft rule was issued, but have now re-filed it. ACS CAN joined an amicus brief supporting plaintiffs on November 29.
In Case You Missed It:
Our November Volunteer Spotlight on our social channels was Karen Malcolm, Vice State Lead Ambassador for ACS CAN Oregon! As a breast cancer survivor, member of ACS CAN's Indigenous Volunteer Voices Affinity Group, and member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), Karen's advocacy work has been important for increasing Indigenous voices in engagement with lawmakers. Read more and share.
If you haven't already, please join us on social media in celebrating and sharing our 2024 wins through ACS CAN's version of Spotify Wrapped!
Advocacy in the News
• AP News: ACS and ACS CAN Mark Their 48th Annual Great American Smokeout by Celebrating Youth Tobacco Use Decline
• Latin Biz Today: ACS and ACS CAN Mark Their 48th Annual Great American Smokeout by Celebrating Youth Tobacco Use Decline
• Cancer Health: 35 Health Advocacy Groups Urge the Supreme Court to Protect Preventive Care
• Boston Globe: A new Mass. law requires insurance to cover breast cancer screenings. Here’s what to know.
• Dallas Morning News: What is a Galleri blood test and how can it help diagnose multiple forms of cancer?
• WisPolitics: Phil O’Brien: Wisconsin’s health care affordability problem
• WSFA: Billboard campaign to expand Medicaid
• Boise State Public Radio: Medicaid Expansion: Idahoans share their stories
• Baltimore Sun: Alsobrooks can make a difference in fight against cancer in Senate
• Dayton Daily News: Letters to the Editor: As a cancer survivor, advocate and volunteer
• Northern Kentucky Tribune: ACS’s 48th Great American Smokeout to reduce tobacco use set for Thursday
