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Texas Cancer Information (TCI) continues to work to improve its Access to Cancer Care for Low-Income and Uninsured Patients tool, your guide to cancer screening and treatment services for low-income and uninsured Texans in Texas’ 254 counties.
Annual verification of services and procedures in all 254 counties and updated English and Spanish documents are now posted at www.texascancer.info/access/. Also, five more counties have been translated into Spanish – Austin, Chambers, Montgomery, San Jacinto and Waller (see related story). In the coming months, look for Spanish translations of the remaining 177 counties, as well as Vietnamese and Chinese translations of Harris, Brazoria and Fort Bend Counties!
TCI is also currently in the process of developing a more interactive, searchable Access to Care database with an enhanced web-based interface in English and Spanish. PDF versions will still be provided.
Effective July 1, several changes will take effect. Premiums will be reduced in 18 states that are participating in the federally run plan. Texas premiums will be reduced by 23.6%. Enrollees will no longer have to obtain a denial letter from an insurance company in order to apply. All they will need to do is obtain a letter from a physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant dated within the last 12 months stating that they have, or have had at any time in the past, a medical condition, disability or illness. For more information, visit the HealthCare.gov webpage Changes to the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan in Your State at www.healthcare.gov/news/factsheets/pcip05312011a.html.
TCI now has information on services available to low-income and uninsured Texans in the following 77 counties available in Spanish. These counties represent just over 90% of the Hispanic population in Texas. Look for translations of all 254 counties in the coming months!
TCI has developed an educational poster on liver cancer entitled Primary Liver Cancer/Cáncer Primario de Hígado/Ung Thu’ Gan. Educational messages are presented in English, Spanish and Vietnamese in order to reach those at higher risk for the disease. The poster was developed with the faculty facilitator of The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Comprehensive Cancer Control Work Group on liver cancer and in collaboration with the Physician Oncology Education Program of the Texas Medical Association. The poster will be distributed as an insert in the July issue of Texas Medicine with additional posters to be distributed to physicians upon request.
You may view and download many TCI posters and brochures at http://www.texascancer.info/poster. TCI posters are available free of charge while supplies last. To order this or other TCI posters, e-mail us at info@texascancer.info or call 713-792-2277.
Commemorate this 4th of July by declaring freedom from nicotine addiction or by encouraging the smokers in your life to declare their freedom from cigarettes. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) is using July 4th, when we remember Americans’ fight for independence and celebrate the freedoms we enjoy, to remind people affected by tobacco use that freedom from nicotine addiction can also be achieved. Visit CDC’s Freedom from Nicotine Addiction page to learn more about tobacco addiction, reasons to quit, reasons to be encouraged that you can quit and resources to help you achieve freedom from nicotine addiction.
Visit the TCI website at www.texascancer.info in the coming months to learn more about the following cancer and health topics in our Monthly Focus feature:
July 2011
Liver Cancer Awareness August 2011
Hematological Cancer Awareness September 2011
Energy Balance October 2011
Breast Cancer Awareness November 2011
Lung Cancer Awareness/Smoking Cessation
If you have suggestions for future Monthly Focus topics, e-mail us at info@texascancer.info or call 713-792-2277.
