A bill (SB 14) which would require health benefit plans in Oklahoma to provide coverage for colorectal cancer examinations passed the State Senate by a vote of 35 to 13 but did not fare as well in the Oklahoma House. According to Pat Marshall, Director of Government Relations for the American Cancer Society in Oklahoma, the measure died when the House Committee on Economic Development and Financial Services refused to hear the bill.
In a Friday, May 25 NewsOK.com article Marshall said:
“This year, almost 1,900 Oklahomans are expected to be diagnosed with colon cancer. I challenge the members of the Oklahoma Legislature to look at these men and women in the eye and tell them, ‘We could have prevented this disease, but we just didn’t have the courage to do the right thing.
“I want to thank those senators who voted for this bill and the 85 representatives who told me they support this bill. They won’t have to think twice about whether they did the right thing. No lost lives will be on their conscience, sacrificed for political ideology.”
Oklahomans in the colon and rectal cancer community should not give up. Here are some suggestions for further action:
- Contact Senator Debbe Leftwich and Representative Ann Coody, SB 14′s primary authors, and tell them you appreciate their efforts and that you want the bill reintroduced in the next legislative session. Go here for Sen. Leftwich’s and here for Rep. Coody’s contact information.
- Contact your State Senator and ask how he or she voted on SB 14. If your Senator was one of the 35 who voted yes be sure to say thank you and if he or she was one of the 13 who voted no tell him or her you disapprove of that vote. Click here than click one of the links on the left side of the page to find contact information for the Senator from your district.
- Contact Members of the House Economic Development and Financial Services Committee and tell them you disagree with their refusal to hear SB 14 and that you wanted a “do pass” recommendation Click here for a list of committee members.
Remember this is a process, not a one-time effort. State legislatures can be much easier to influence than Congress as they are much more locally connected with their constituents. Continue to tell your State Senators and Representatives you want this bill to pass and write letters to the editor on the issue. Work to generate a wave of constituent support that cannot be ignored.
November 14, 2007 at 10:46 am, Brad Leamon said:
I would like to understand the economic costs associated with the testing and if the testing costs would decrease significanty if they become more routine. My first inclination is that passing the bill, as Missouri did in 1999, is a no brainer. They are showing a 10% decrease in deaths comparing 1999 to 2007. Perhaps the 10% is conservative since the population rates have increased.