You may start hearing the word “sequestration” a lot over the coming months. It’s a big word that might not mean a whole lot to you now, but make no mistake – it could have a big impact on your life.

To sequester means to set apart or to take something away until a debt has been repaid. Last year, when Congress passed the Budget Control Act, it said that funding for discretionary programs – those are programs that Congress funds each year through the appropriations process – must be cut by $1 trillion over 10 years. It also directed a joint Congressional committee to identify an additional $1.2 trillion in savings over 10 years.

This “super committee” failed to agree on a deficit reduction plan, and that failure put discretionary programs – like cancer research and cancer prevention programs – on a collision course with sequestration; automatic funding cuts set to take effect on January 2, 2013.

Throughout the fall, Fight Colorectal Cancer will keep you updated on this issue and we will likely ask you to speak up about it as well. In the meantime, we urge you to take a moment to learn more about sequestration, and how it may impact your life.

More information, provided by the Coalition for Health Funding

• Sequestration Frequently Asked Questions
• “Think Before You Cut” flyer
• Grassroots Tool Kit

Fight Colorectal Cancer, along with five other cancer groups, has sent a letter to Congress urging action to protect patients from counterfeit or unsafe medicines.

In February 2012, vials of fake Avastin (bevacizumab) were distributed in the United States. Avastin is a critical drug for metastatic colorectal cancer patients. The fake vials did not include bevacizumab at all – which could have put patients at great risk.

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Patricia Steer

We passed too often in the night of this disease, Pat Steer and I.

We made plans that sometimes turned out too hard to keep.

One of our plans was to get together at the Creekside, to talk books and dogs, but she got sicker, and I was suddenly very sick. We planned for phone calls that fell through and for my driving over for sit-down talks at her condo that I never had enough time for.

I wanted to have her tell me how to to cope with a disease that neither of us wanted.

She lived with stage IV rectal cancer for 8 years. After five years of early stage colon cancer, my cancer has returned in an unexpected way, and I desperately want some of those eight years. What a special gift that would be. Read the rest of this entry »

Fight Colorectal Cancer advocate Rose Hausmann

On July 10, more than 100 cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, researchers and physicians will unite on Capitol Hill as One Voice Against Cancer. “Prioritize and protect funding to fight cancer” will be the strong yet simple message they deliver to their lawmakers.

Fight Colorectal Cancer is an active member of One Voice Against Cancer and will be represented on Capitol Hill by an outstanding team of colorectal cancer advocates, but they need your support.

“I’m No Miracle” is an advertising campaign that will be launched by One Voice Against Cancer this week. Take a moment download or print the ad and email, fax or mail it to your lawmakers along with a personalized message about why funding for colorectal cancer research and prevention is important to you.

As House and Senate lawmakers consider spending for the 2013 fiscal year, they are under tremendous pressure to cut billions from the federal budget. It is our job to remind Congress that they have choices when it comes to spending priorities. Now is not the time for Congress to slow the rate of discovery and squander opportunities to transform cancer care for patients and survivors.

Please support the 100 cancer advocates (including 8 from Fight Colorectal Cancer) and email your Members of Congress in support of cancer research funding today.

Thank you for your time and support.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the Affordable Care Act, including its individual health insurance mandate, is constitutional. The Court did not uphold the individual mandate on the grounds that Congress can use its power to regulate commerce between the states to require everyone to buy health insurance. Rather, the Court agreed that the penalty that someone must pay if he or she refuses to buy insurance is a kind of tax that Congress can impose using its taxing power.

Because the mandate survives, the Court did not need to decide what other parts of the statute were constitutional, except for a provision that requires states to comply with new eligibility requirements for Medicaid or risk losing their funding. On that question, the Court held that the provision is constitutional as long as states would only lose new funds if they didn’t comply with the new requirements, rather than all of their funding.

The Court’s ruling does not end the debate over health care reform, which will figure dominantly in the November elections.

The Court’s landmark decision means that more Americans will continue to have access to colorectal cancer screening, and that cancer patients will not need to fear losing their insurance or being denied coverage.

Fight Colorectal Cancer will continue to work with Congress and the Administration on implementation of the law, including revising a section of the law that currently holds individuals liable for cost sharing when a colorectal cancer screening also involves the removal of polyps.

Visit our Call to Action Center – keep the conversation happening.