Font ResizeEvery summer thousands of Alaskans pour into Mulcahy Stadium's 4,000 seats. 830 of these fans could fill up about one-forth of the sports arena. Every year, cancer is killing that many Alaskans.
"We haven't done nearly what we should have, so there's a lot more work to be done," says Alaska American Cancer Society Government Affairs Director Emily Nenon.
The American Cancer Society recently compiled a state-by-state report. "How Do You Measure Up?: A Progress Report on State Legislative Activity to Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality," was released July 21 at the National Conference of State Legislatures annual meeting.
The report says Alaska lawmakers do a good job implementing tobacco taxes and colorectal screening laws.
But Nenon says, "One of the things that's still missing for colon cancer coverage is for retired state employees."
Current Alaska law requires colon cancer screenings for anyone covered by private insurance. An apparent loophole, however, leaves out AlaskaCare, the state's self funded insurance plan. AlaskaCare covers
Nenon says, "We've got some key holes in the puzzle to get that coverage for colon cancer screenings."
While Medicare covers 65 year-old and older retirees' colonoscopies, there are currently 18,500 retirees between the ages of 50 and 64 years old.
Through a statement to CBS 11 News, Administration Department Special Assistant Robert Pearson says 50-64 year old retirees can only receive a fully covered colonoscopy if they have a, "physician referral for 'medical necessity.' " Pearson goes onto say, "The plan also pays for other colon cancer testing...under the same standard."
From 2004 to 2006, 847 50 to 64 year olds received the referral. 35 were treated for colon cancer.
Nenon says, "Colon cancer is the only cancer that can actually be prevented through the screening."
For the past year-and-a-half the American Cancer Society has been asking the Administration Department for a public document specifying how much it would cost to cover all retirees colonoscopies.
Nenon told us, "I haven't gotten a copy of the report yet," until CBS 11 News made the same request.
Pearson says the Administration Department's revised document only contains minor changes from an original 2007 report the American Cancer Society had already received.
"Any delay in providing the latter copy is not an effort to hide a conclusion," Pearson says. "It's simply a matter of realizing that the first letter was essentially unchanged, and we had not taken the time to confirm with the Department of Law and the Commissioner's staff that the new one was ready for release."
The state's consultant concludes, "We believe an explicit colon screening diagnostic provision in the retiree plan will prove financially positive over time....We further suggest...colon screenings could be covered per the American Cancer Society guidelines."
Those guidelines are included in the report, saying beginning at age 50, one of five tests, including a colonoscopy, should be scheduled.
"Because you can remove polyps before they become cancerous though a colonoscopy." Nenon says.
Pearson, however, points to the part of the report saying covering every retiree's preventative colon cancer tests would not save the state money.
"Colonoscopies are highly invasive procedures," Pearson writes, "And it is not certain that the people who might benefit most from a colonoscopy will take steps to have the procedure done."
Beyond this loophole, though, American Cancer Society officials give Alaska lawmakers high colon cancer prevention marks. There is a long list, however, where they do not make the passing grade.
According to the report, Alaska lawmakers do a poor job funding breast and cervical cancer early detection programs; and they fail to properly fund three areas: the uninsured, smoke free laws, and pain management.
American Cancer Society officials say obesity is a root cause of most cancers. State health department officials report two-thirds of all Alaskan adults are overweight or obese.
Nenon says, "We know that two-thirds of all cancer deaths are actually preventable through not using tobacco, and good diet, and physical activity."
When it comes to finding a true cancer solution American Cancer Society officials say it is imperative lawmakers fund obesity prevention programs.
Deciding where state money is spent is the role of the legislature's finance committee.
During 2008's legislative session House Finance Co-Chair Rep. Mike Hawker, R-Anchorage, stripped $923,000 from the budget. The money would have been spent on a ten year Alaska Obesity Prevention and Control Program.
Hawker says, "If you give them this money, they're going to solve cancer. That's the implication. When we looked at the request on this so-called anti-obesity effort, frankly it was mostly using Alaska's school kids as laboratory rats to study issues. It was not to combat obesity."
Hawker says as finance chair he has continued fully funding ongoing federal anti-obesity efforts.
"We only have so much money," Hawker says. "The state is in a continuing declining revenue base, and starting new social entitlement programs is something we're very, very concerned about."
Cancer society officials say obesity prevention would be modeled after the tobacco prevention program Hawker himself calls highly successful. ACS officials credit that program for 7800 fewer Alaska tobacco related deaths between 1996 and 2007.
Hawker says, "It (tobacco prevention) was a targeted effort to reduce the incidents of youth consumption of tobacco products as opposed to a million dollar project, again, as using the kids as laboratory rats to gather data for national statistics."
While Alaska's number one killer may be cancer, the state also has the nation's highest sexual abuse rates. Hawker feels this is where state dollars should be spent.
"To imply we're somehow not concerned or not pursuing what we can do to challenge cancer in this state, it's just on an incremental new program," Hawker says. "Which is the greater risk, six year olds being raped by their father or a kid eating too many twinkies."
Cancer society officials say the $46-million Medicare and Medicaid dollars the state's spending on obesity related illness proves one thing, "Putting all this on an individual to make the right choices isn't working," Nenon says.
But Hawker responds, "That implies that were going to put these kids on state welfare today and keep them there for the rest of their lives."
Hawker contends lawmakers are doing their jobs fully funding health department policies, like tobacco prevention. Still, as cancer continues to kill 830 Alaskans every year, for now, it does not appear the way lawmakers and some state officials are funding cancer prevention policies will be changing.
