Representatives from the Cancer Action Network, an advocacy affiliate within the American Cancer Society, are personally calling Kansans to ask for their support of health care reform.

The Cancer Action Network has not formally endorsed any legislation yet, but CAN leaders know what they want.

“We are strongly in support of fixing a broken health care system,” Steven Weiss, director of communications for the ACS CAN, told Kansas Liberty.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network supports affordable, universal health care coverage that concentrates on preventative screening and adequate benefits for cancer patients.

Weiss said 50,000 concerned citizens across the nation had responded to requests made by ACS CAN representatives, and contacted their legislators to voice their support for a health care reform.

He said his organization was urging citizens “to tell their elected officials that health-care is critical and that it should be passed this year.”

Weiss said CAN would consider endorsing a bill if it would improve health care for cancer patients. Weiss said the group did not anticipate taking a position on whether or not a public option should be included. Democrats and left-wing agit-prop groups, including SEIU and MoveOn.org, have been insisting on the option, which would establish a government health-care bureaucracy.

The ACS CAN has cosponsored advertisements promoting reform alongside the SEIU, and the American Medical Association, two organizations that fully endorse Obama's health care reform, even though the plan has not been fully explained.

According to tax records, the Cancer Action Network had a total of $7.23 million in assets in 2007. The group has spent a total of $2.25 million in lobbying expenditures this year, with health reform the main focus.

Greg Ward, co-founder of the Kansas branch of the 912 project, said the American Cancer Society’s approach for advocating reform reminded him of the AARP’s approach to garner support. The 912 project promotes government accountability, political participation, and regularly hosts public meetings and forums dedicated to informing the public about government issues, including health care reform.

“I don’t have a problem with the American Cancer Society having an opinion but I think they should be upfront about what their objective is,” Ward told Kansas Liberty. “It is kind of like the AARP in that on the surface they appear to be pretty neutral, but the more they come out with their position you may see that it is not neutral at all.”

Like the ACS, the AARP has said it supports reform without explicitly endorsing the legislation being considered in Washington.

AARP members have interpreted the group’s position as being supportive of Obamacare with reports showing that AARP has lost a substantial amount of members due to its support of reform.

Ward said that groups, like the AARP, are getting creative in the way they market their support, due to the public backlash for Obamacare.

“I think that with all the tea parties, grassroots movements, and town hall meetings these organizations know that there isn’t public support for this,” he said. “So they have to kind of dress it up and get it to fly below the radar.”

Resources
Kansas 912 Project
http://kansas912.ning.com/

ACS CAN health care site
http://acscan.org/healthcare

Previously on Kansas Liberty: Kansas state agencies told to pass personal info to liberal union activists

The Week in Review