Where:
Legislative Office Building Hearing Room C, Albany, NY

When:
April 8, 2008, 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM

The New York State Breast Cancer Network (NYSBCN), a coalition of 23 breast cancer, health, and environmental organizations from across the state, will hold its 10th Annual Breast Cancer Advocacy Day on April 8, 2008 in Albany at the Legislative Office Building Hearing Room C from 8:30 A.M. to 3 P.M.

Access to Care, the theme of Advocacy Day, will be the focus of a morning program that will include presentations on insurance advocacy and health literacy. Participants will then meet with their state legislators in the afternoon to educate them on emergent issues in the health community, and to lobby for the Networks Public Policy Agenda.

All members of the State Legislature have been invited to attend the morning presentations. More than 100 breast cancer survivors and others with personal experience of the disease are expected to attend.

The New York State Breast Cancer Network is calling on the State Legislature to support the following Public Policy Agenda:

An Expansion of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program
The Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program (BCCTP) extends Medicaid coverage for treatment of breast and cervical cancer to uninsured women in New York State. To qualify for treatment, women must be screened through the Breast and Cervical Cancer screening program, a CDC funded program, and meet other eligibility requirements. Under New Yorks current policy, low income, uninsured women who are screened in non-CDC grantee funded programs are not eligible for treatment. The NYSBCN urges the New York State legislature to implement an additional option of this program in order to provide access to treatment for all qualified women.

Health Insurance Coverage for Lymphedema (A7077A, S1544A)
Lymphedema, the swelling of limbs caused by lymph node removal, is a major issue for many breast cancer survivors. This bill mandates insurance coverage for lymphedema diagnosis and treatment, including costs of compression materials used in treatment, and requires adequate training for lymphedema therapists as defined by the Lymphology Association of North America (LANA).

Environmental Health Tracking (A1958, S3935)
As a result of chemical exposures, numerous studies have shown that most human beings currently bear a chemical body burden, including carcinogenic agents that can be detected blood, urine, or tissue samples. The Environmental Health Tracking System Act, a statewide health tracking and biomonitoring program, would gather human health data and environmental data and compare them on a geographical basis to track cancer and other diseases.

New York Healthy & Green Purchasing Initiative
This initiative would incorporate a precautionary approach to government purchasing policies
through an initiative that would encourage state agencies to purchase greener commodities,
services, and technologies that minimize potential adverse impacts on public health and the environment according to specified criteriahealthy environment and a vibrant economy.

Building Health Literacy Capacity/Saving Lives
Health Literacy is the understanding of written and verbal medical information and instructions. It covers all communications related to ones health, including treatment options, medications, health insurance policies, and hospital policies. No established standards currently exist for language clarity. The NYSBCN believes that New York State must develop public policy measures to enhance Health Literacy, thus reducing potentially dangerous situations wherein people do not understand medical information and/or instructions related to their condition, and giving people the ability to make more informed choices.

Our legislative agenda pinpoints bills and initiatives designed to save lives, provide a healthier environment, and ensure a decent quality of life to breast cancer survivors, said Elizabeth Wohl, Vice Chair of the New York State Breast Cancer Network. We hope at our annual Advocacy Day to educate legislators about the problems that gave rise to these issues and to encourage them to adopt meaningful solutions to those problems.
The New York State Breast Cancer Network is the only network of survivor-driven, community-based breast cancer organizations, and other health-related groups, in New York State. There are 23 member organizations, representing communities from Long Island to Buffalo, who have come together to share programs and information and to have a voice in New York State public policy that affects the breast cancer community.

All concerned women and men are welcome to attend the NYSBCN Advocacy Day. There is a registration fee of $20. To register, please call Capital Region Against Breast Cancer (CRAAB!), 518-435-1055, craab@nycap.rr.com.