Senator John McCain will be greeted by over one thousand cancer survivors from across the country including representatives from C3, Joe Arite, Suzanne Lindley and Marilia Sardinha, who will unite behind efforts to make cancer a national priority. The event will be hosted by The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute.

The cancer community is looking forward to speaking with the Senator from Arizona, who is a skin cancer survivor himself, and ask him what his plans are to fight the war against cancer.

Under considerable pressure from physician and patient groups, many Republicans split with the president and vote in favor of an override. The House of Representatives voted 383 to 41 to override while the Senate voted 70 to 26. Both well above the required 2/3 majority.

His return brought a victory to a stalled Medicare bill. The Medicare Improvements for Patients Providers Act (HR 6331) was approved yesterday by a veto proof margin in the Senate. Now the 10.6 percent cut to physicians’ payments, which went into effect on July 1st, will be reversed.

Wearing a dark suit and a wide grin, Kennedy gave a grand gesture during the Medicare roll-call vote. “Aye,” he said, to laughter (The Hill, June 9, 2008).

“Everyone recognizes that was an act of courage,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said. “I’ve been in the Senate for 27 years. I don’t quite remember another moment like it,” said Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT). “It was good to have the lion from Massachusetts back in the Senate.”

Kennedy’s presence Wednesday, along with the reality that Democrats had the votes lined up to move ahead, was enough to change the minds of 39 Republicans who previously voted against the bill. The bill was approved by a vote of 69-30, more than enough to override an anticipated presidential veto.

When I turned 18, I was so excited that I finally had the right to vote (you can imagine how much fun I was in high school). As a bona fide history geek, every time I vote, or place a call to Congress or write a letter to my electeds, I think about the patriots who embarked on a Great Experiment and sought to create a government of the people, by the people, for the people. How unsure they must have been that it would work, that a country without a strong central government would be able to thrive, that its citizens wouldn’t naturally gravitate back into living under tyranny. Ultimately, their faith in humankind won out over the fear and doubt. Man, that gets me.

Now, some may not naturally make a connection between the brilliance that is Thomas Jefferson’s letter to King George and modern day citizens emailing their Members of Congress about colorectal cancer screening – but I do. Those guys got bent out of shape over a taxation on tea. We want to make sure everyone’s butts get covered. And so we get a bill introduced, it gets debated on by Members of Congress, eventually it will get a vote and all the while regular American citizens are weighing in on this issue and making sure their voices are heard. It’s beautiful! America at its best! I love it.

So this 4th of July, show your country how much you love it. DEMAND that your elected officials pass legislation that will help us win the fight against colorectal cancer. And while you’re at it, give a little thanks for the brave men and women throughout the centuries who have fought to help us attain and keep our freedom.

What does this mean? If the Senate vote to cut off the debate ended up 60-40, the Senate would have been forced to vote on the bill. Instead, the Senate debated endlessly (filibuster) until they finally adjourned to go home for the entire next week. Because of this inaction, payments for physicians who treat Medicare recipients were cut by 10.6 percent on July 1st.

C3’s concern is that doctors may begin refusing to take anymore Medicare patients if the cuts remain. Since the average age for a person diagnosed with colorectal cancer is 67 years old, Medicare is a serious issue for us.

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Majority Leader, left the door open to take care of the issue when the Senate gets back from its Independence Day recess. Presumably the cuts will be reversed, but as everyone knows firsthand, things do not always go the way you think they are going to in Washington.

Reid scolded the Senators who had blocked action on the bill. This is the same bill that earlier had passed the House by a veto-proof margin of 355-59. “We’ll be back, and you’ll have another opportunity to vote for this,” Reid said, “During the next 10 days, think about how you’re going to vote on this next time.”

Reach out to your Senators and urge them to vote in favor of HR 6331, The Medicare Improvements for Patients Providers Act. Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to be transferred to your Senators’ offices. If you do not know who your Senators are, click here to find out.

Failure of this bill could result in serious hardships for Medicare beneficiaries.

Click here to read a statement from Senator Byrd (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

The bill makes major investments in healthcare including:

Colorectal Screenings – The Subcommittee provided $25 million to establish a nation-wide program to support colorectal screenings for low-income individuals.

The full Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider the FY 2009 Labor-HHS-Education Appropriations bill on Thursday

This funding is above and beyond what is provided for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Colorectal Cancer Outreach Program. We of course need to maintain these dollars in the negotiations with the House, as well as continue pressing to get HR 1738 authorized so there is a framework around the program going forward.

I will keep you updated on any further developments.

The package will now be sent to the Senate where it is expected to be greeted with similar support. It is also important to note that White House Budget Director Jim Nussle went on record last Thursday to express the administration’s approval of the final package.

Stay tuned…

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) was one of the big winners, snagging an additional $150 million. A much lower number than we had hoped for, but a victory nonetheless.

As we mentioned last week, a battle has been going on between Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) and the Bush Administration. Both have been trying to get the extra $275 million requested by FDA Chief, Andrew Von Eschenbach, but at very different times. The Republican Senator, who has been a champion in the fight for biomedical research dollars, wanted the $275 million added to the emergency supplemental. This would make the money available by early fall of 2008. Meanwhile, the Administration wanted to add the $275 million to the FY 09 budget, not making the funds available until well into next year.

The next step for the bill is to move over to the Senate where it will have to be voted on. This gives an opportunity for the Senate to add even more money to the struggling agency. While we would definitely welcome it, this scenario is likely not to happen.

We will keep you updated on any further developments.

Preliminarily information indicates that the House’s FY 2009 LHHS-ED Appropriation bill will include:

• A $1.2 billion funding increase for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which could fund up to 1,000 new grants.
• A $156 million funding increase for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Stay tuned…