Ohio gets low score for cancer policies

Ohio has failed a recent evaluation by the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network, meeting just three of the network’s nine public policy goals aimed at reducing cancer diagnoses and deaths (Source: “Ohio fails on cancer-control policies, study finds,” Columbus Dispatch, Aug. 3, 2017)

The state was highly criticized in three areas: for not prohibiting minors from using tanning beds; for allocating just 10.3 percent of the federal government’s recommended funding level for tobacco-control programs; and for appropriating less than one-third of matching funds to a federal award for breast and cervical cancer screening programs.

The report, released Thursday, focuses on tobacco cessation, access to care and quality-of-life issues, said Jeff Stephens, the network’s government relations director.

“Ohio is just sort of average,” Stephens said. “We’ve missed some big opportunities in the last handful of years, particularly in the past two biennial budgets, with really attacking the issues around tobacco control.”

On the plus side, Ohio was singled out for being one of just four states that protect the most residents from secondhand smoke and one of just nine states that provide the most comprehensive tobacco cessation coverage through Medicaid. Ohio also was mentioned for being among the states that expanded Medicaid coverage to include families earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level ($12,060 a year for the first person in a family, and $4,180 for each additional person).