2023-2024 Public Policy & Advocacy Priorities
Every two years, the Center for Public Policy identifies the public policy issue areas where Komen’s voice can provide the greatest potential for achieving our mission – to save lives by meeting the most critical needs in our communities and investing in breakthrough research to prevent and cure breast cancer.
Despite major public policy wins in state legislatures and in Congress during the 2021-2022 sessions, there remain inequities in health care, in the way patients are treated and in breast cancer outcomes for Black women and white women. Susan G. Komen has identified three areas where it will work in the 2023 and 2024 state and federal legislative sessions to enact laws so that where you live does not determine if you live, and so the most vulnerable populations can get and afford the care they need to save their lives.
Komen’s 2023 – 2024 Public Policy & Advocacy Priorities:
We commit to Accelerating Research as the driving force behind decades of advances that have improved the health of people in every corner of America — especially those affected by breast cancer. Susan G. Komen will support efforts to adequately fund the entire research spectrum, including through state and federally supported biomedical research, as we support broader efforts to ensure research reflects and includes the diversity of the breast cancer community. Thus, Komen will advocate for increased education about and access to clinical trials for all patient populations.
As biomedical research opens doors to innovative technologies and treatments for breast cancer, we must ensure all patients can benefit from these advancements. We commit to Ensuring Access to affordable, high-quality care for all patients. We also support programs, which provide vital care to our most vulnerable patients, including the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, Medicaid and Medicare.
While it is crucial to break down barriers to accessing our health care system, we must also ensure that, once in the system, patients can fully utilize health care. Therefore, Komen commits to Alleviating Patient Burden through robust public policies that recognize both the financial toxicity of treating breast cancer and the systemic hurdles patients must pass through to access their care. We commit to supporting policies that lower out-of-pocket costs, protect patients from financial ruin and reduce the red tape around vital aspects of care.
Have you been impacted by one or more of these issues? Share your story.
