WASHINGTON, D.C., April 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Cancer Support Community (CSC), the largest professionally led non-profit network of cancer support worldwide, is calling on the U.S. Senate to confirm Chiquita Brooks-LaSure as the next Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
CSC’s action comes one day before the Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to take up Brooks-LaSure’s nomination for this critical government post.
“Chiquita Brooks-LaSure is uniquely qualified for this role and is the right person to lead CMS,” said Phylicia L. Woods, Executive Director of CSC’s Cancer Policy Institute. “Both Medicare and Medicaid provide a lifeline of affordable, quality, health coverage for over a hundred million people nationwide, including critical services for the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer.”
CSC, which provides $50 million in free support and navigation services each year for individuals affected by cancer through online resources and 175 in-person locations across the country, cited Brook-LaSure’s extensive background in implementing programs to make health care more affordable and accessible as a key reason for publicly supporting her nomination.
“Throughout her career, Brooks-LaSure has developed and implemented policy solutions to health care challenges,” Woods said. “Brooks-LaSure understands the need to improve access to quality health care for vulnerable populations, including people of color, those of low socioeconomic status, and the uninsured. Her expertise across all of CMS’s areas of responsibility makes her qualified for this ever-important role.”
The nomination comes as the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored a longstanding crisis— racial and ethnic disparities in our health care system. As an organization, CSC is committed to advancing health equity to ensure that all individuals have access to, and can afford, health care insurance and services. CSC has also emphasized the importance of having greater diversity, inclusion, and representation in our nation’s highest positions. If confirmed, Brooks-LaSure will be the first Black woman to hold the position of CMS Administrator.
In addition to the Brooks-LaSure nomination, CSC also backed Xavier Becerra to serve as Secretary of Health and Human Services and called on the Biden-Harris administration and Congress to act on a number of patient-focused legislative and regulatory actions.
About the Cancer Support Community
The Cancer Support Community (CSC) is a global nonprofit network of 175 locations, including CSC and Gilda’s Club centers, hospitals and clinics, and satellite locations that deliver $50 million in free support services to patients and families. In addition, CSC administers a toll-free helpline and produces award-winning educational resources that, together with the locations, reach more than one million people each year. Formed in 2009 by the merger of The Wellness Community and Gilda’s Club, CSC conducts cutting-edge research on the emotional, psychological, and financial journey of cancer patients. CSC also advocates at all levels of government for policies to help individuals whose lives have been disrupted by cancer. In January 2018, CSC welcomed Denver-based nonprofit MyLifeLine, a digital community that includes nearly 40,000 patients, caregivers, and their supporters that will enable CSC to scale its digital services in an innovative, groundbreaking way. For more information, visit www.CancerSupportCommunity.org. So that no one faces cancer alone®.