Join thousands of advocates from across the country and take five minutes to call Congress and ask your Representative to support H.R. 1189.

Don’t know what to say when you call?  Download a detailed script.

H.R. 1189 will create a national treatment and screening program for colorectal cancer – a program that remains important even in the wake of health care reform.  While the recently enacted health care reform legislation will lower the cost of preventive services like colonoscopies for many Americans, the health care reform legislation will not do anything to increase awareness about the importance of early detection and screening.  To do that, we need H.R. 1189 enacted.

Today is your chance to help us win the fight against colorectal cancer and make the vision of a national colorectal cancer screening and treatment program a reality.  Take five minutes to call Congress and ask your Representative to support H.R. 1189.

For more details, and updates go to www.coveryourbutt.org.

The Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers against drinking raw milk.  At least 12 cases of campylobacteriosis have been reported in Michigan traced to unpasturized milk.  The milk came from the Forest Grove Dairy in Middlebury, Indiana.

Symptoms include diarrhea, abdominal pain, and fever.

The FDA points out that “the harmful bacteria in raw milk can be especially dangerous for pregnant women, the elderly, infants, young children and people with weakened immune systems.” Read the rest of this entry »

Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper

Along with Preventing Colorectal Cancer.org and the Prevent Cancer Foundation, C3 hosted a Congressional briefing in order to provide Members and health care staff with information about current colorectal cancer screening programs that work and pending legislation that has the potential to save thousands of lives and billions in Medicare expenditures by expanding access to colorectal cancer screening and treatment.

Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper spoke at the briefing about the impact of colorectal cancer on women and to urge support for her recently-introduced resolution.  A champion for the health care and wellness needs of women, Representative Dahlkemper discussed the importance of early detection and screening in the fight against colorectal cancer.

“Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in both women and men in the United States, yet many people are unaware of the need to be screened for this disease.  As many as 44,000 lives a year could be saved if colorectal cancer screening was fully accessible and utilized.  Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month is about educating men and women to save lives. I am proud to be part of this important effort to raise awareness and help in the fight against colorectal cancer.”

Read the rest of this entry »

This morning, the President signed into law the biggest transformation of our health care system in decades.  The law includes a number of provisions that will help individuals diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer.

Although many of the provisions of the new law are phased in to take effect gradually until the entire law is implemented in 2018, some benefits will be available immediately.

Highlights of the provisions that will benefit individuals people facing cancer treatment include: prohibiting insurance companies from dropping patients who become sick; eliminating lifetime and annual limits on coverage; prohibiting insurance companies from denying coverage because of pre-existing conditions; and limits on on out-of-pocket expenses.

You can review a chart developed by C3 with key issues affecting colorectal cancer prevention and treatment that are part of the health care reform legislation.

While historic, enactment of this new law is just one step in an ongoing process.  Even after all the provisions in the new law take effect in 2018, many Americans may be newly insured but will still fail to receive the right treatment at the right time.  The Colorectal Cancer Coalition continues to support research to help develop new treatments and to support efforts to increase awareness about the importance of early detection and screening. Read the rest of this entry »

Leading up to this evening’s vote on health care reform legislation in the House, much of the debate has focused on whether or not Speaker Pelosi has lined up the 216 votes needed to send a bill to the President.

So, what exactly will the pending legislation do?

Take a look at a side-by-side chart comparing some of the provisions in the House-passed, Senate-passed, and pending House reconciliation bills that C3 thinks are important for people living with colorectal cancer.  The chart also includes links to the full text of each of the bills, so that you can read the complete legislation.