Finding Common Ground in the State Capitol
People are exhausted by the divisiveness dominating the news cycle, by the sense that our elected officials are just arguing and nothing gets done. But what I experienced in Sacramento last month showed me a different picture.
Introducing the Healthy Lungs Coalition
On May 18th, Breathe Southern California, working with the support of AstraZeneca, held our inaugural Healthy Lungs California Advocacy Day in Sacramento. Breathe SoCal serves as co-lead of the newly formed Healthy Lungs Coalition, a first-of-its-kind alliance bringing together patient advocacy groups, healthcare organizations, pulmonologists, thoracic surgeons, and community partners united around three core issues:
• Early detection and screening for lung cancer
• Awareness and diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• Wildfire smoke preparedness and response
After several months developing the coalition it was our first time meeting one another face to face. Over 50 people made the trip to present a unified front to California lawmakers. Breathe SoCal alone brought seven advocates.
This broad coalition unified with one message: lung disease doesn’t discriminate. Lung disease doesn’t care what political party you belong to, how old you are, where you live, or your net worth. It can affect anyone.
The Bill We’re Fighting For
Our legislative focus was Senate Bill (SB) 1309, The Stop Cancer Early Act, authored by Senator Susan Rubio (D-Baldwin Park). This bill would require health plans and insurers to cover follow-up lung cancer screenings and diagnostic services without imposing out-of-pocket costs on patients.
Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in California, claiming nearly 10,000 lives per year, more than breast, colorectal, and cervical cancers combined. When caught early, the survival rate is around 65%. But when caught late, survival plummets to 10%. Nearly half of all lung cancer patients end up with a Stage 4 diagnosis, largely because financial barriers stop people from completing the diagnostic process earlier. It is estimated that only 17% of at-risk Californians receive a recommended low-dose CT scan, the only approved screening method.
Initial lung cancer screening is typically covered by insurance at no cost for high-risk individuals. But, if that screening comes back abnormal or inconclusive, the follow-up can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars out of pocket even if the patient has insurance. Faced with that bill, many patients simply don’t go back for the follow-up visit. As a result, cancer that could have been caught at an early, treatable stage progresses to a point where options are far more limited.
The Advocacy Day participants also discussed the growing threat of wildfire smoke on lung health, and explained the impacts of COPD. More than 1.3 million Californians have COPD, and it is estimated that there’s a million more who have COPD but have not been diagnosed. Forty percent of lung cancer patients also have COPD.
Closing the COPD treatment gap could prevent an estimated 41,500 emergency department visits and 1,600 hospital readmissions every year, yielding more than $52 million in annual savings. These figures represent real Californians and a real strain on our healthcare system.
Bridge Building, Not Just Advocacy
After attendees heard from two panels of speakers, they visited more than 30 legislative offices, both Republicans and Democrats, meeting with legislators or their staff. The response was genuinely positive.
What we built on May 18th wasn’t a political effort. It was a community effort of people who care about the same thing: making sure Californians can breathe. We didn’t move the needle in one day, but we laid a foundation and built relationships. We made it clear that lung health has a constituency and that constituency is growing.
In Health,
