Leonard Lance
ASCO HAS PRESENTED Representative Leonard Lance, of New Jersey’s 7th district, with its second annual Congressional Leadership Award in recognition of the lawmaker’s exceptional commitment to supporting cancer research and treatment. ASCO President Dr. Bruce Johnson presented the award to Representative Lance during ASCO’s Advocacy Summit, held September 27–28 in Washington, DC.
A member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Representative Lance has worked diligently to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable, high-value cancer care and that physicians are equipped to provide such care. He is the lead sponsor of the Cancer Drug Parity Act (H.R. 1409), legislation that will improve the affordability of oral cancer drugs for patients by ensuring they are covered in the same manner as intravenous chemotherapy.
Congressman Lance has shown his commitment to cancer research by supporting the 21st Century Cures Act, which provided a much-needed boost in supplemental funding to the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration to support critical cancer research and accelerate the momentum of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative. He also supports the Childhood Cancer STAR Act (H.R. 820) to encourage more extensive research into childhood cancers and is co-leading a congressional sign–on letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services urging them to stop a proposal that would threaten patient access to care by including Part B drugs in adjustments to practices under the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System. ■
