New Jersey ranks in the middle of the pack nationally in a new report from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) which assesses state policies on cancer care and prevention.
The report examines access-to-care issues including increased access to Medicaid, early detection and access to palliative care. It also assesses state policies that support cancer prevention.
In New Jersey’s snapshot report, the state meets or exceeds four of the report’s nine measures; is showing “some progress” in palliative care and pain policy; and falls short in three prevention measures. Only two states – California and Massachusetts – meet benchmarks in six or more of the nine categories. No state meets benchmarks in eight or nine policy areas.
The full list of measures encompasses:
- increased access to healthcare coverage through Medicaid
- funding for cancer screening programs
- passage of quality of life (palliative care) policies
- implementation of balanced pain control policies
- smoke-free laws
- cigarette tax levels
- funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs
- coverage of tobacco cessation treatment through Medicaid programs, and
- prohibiting minors from using indoor tanning devices.
The focus on pain policy is new to the report this year. The report found that between 2015 and 2018 the number of state legislative proposals related to pain management and opioid issues rose from fewer than 80 proposals to more than 470. ACS CAN said the policies are intended to curb the ongoing opioid abuse problem, but the unintended results are making it more difficult for cancer patients and survivors to access prescribed pain treatments.
According to ACS CAN, cancer kills roughly 1,670 people a day nationwide and costs patients nearly $4 billion in out-of-pocket expenses every year. In the latest data, 2015, cancer cost the country more than $80 billion in direct medical expenditures.
