Despite making progress by raising its cigarette tax, West Virginia is mostly falling short when it comes to enacting policies that lower cancer rates, according to a report released Thursday.
"We're making progress," said Hersha Arnold Brown, the state government relations director for the state's American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. "We have earned some strong ratings in two out of the ten categories and made progress with two others. We are moving forward, but it's taking time to do it."
The report, "How Do You Measure Up?", outlines where each state stands on issues that play a role at reducing cancer.
Earlier this year, the state Legislature passed a $.65 increase on its cigarette tax, bringing the total tax to $1.20 per pack. Even after the increase, the state's cigarette tax is bellow the national average of $1.65 per pack. The state's increase was enough to raise its rating in the report from a red for "falling short" to yellow for showing "some progress."
"When it was increased, it's still more than 40 cents below the national average, and [the increase was] not big enough to make a public impact," Arnold Brown said. "We fought to get it higher."
Arnold Brown said during the 2017 legislative session, the group will advocate for a cigarette tax increase if one is introduced. She said she would like to see the tax at least the national average.
West Virginia also got a falling short rating for public spending on tobacco control programs. The state of West Virginia reduced its spending from $4.8 million last year to $3 million this coming year, Arnold Brown said. The CDC recommends $27.4 million.
"The [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] recommendation is much higher," she said. "So that cuts down on education and awareness to the public."
Arnold Brown said tobacco costs the state $1 billion annually in health care costs and loss of productivity.
"That's a lot," she said. [Lawmakers] need to take a look upfront at how they can save health care cost down the road. A high [cigarette] tax would have helped with that."
West Virginia also got a negative rating from smoke-free laws for public places because it has no state-level laws to that effect. Arnold Brown said the state has taken a different approach. More than 60 percent of the state has clean indoor air regulations at the county level and all 55 counties have at least some level of regulations, she said. Arnold Brown said the advocacy group supports having the counties decide to enact their own regulations and is pushing to make more of the county-level regulations comprehensive.
"And then we will maybe introduce a state regulation," she said. "I think some of the policymakers are hesitant [to enact a state-level smoke-free laws]. Right now we're successful going county by county and letting them decide. Right now that's probably the best plan we could go by."
West Virginia's adult smoking rate is 26.7 percent, according to 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data. Its smoking rate is 77 percent higher than the national average, she said. The state's high school smoking rate is 74 percent higher than the average, she said. The state also has the highest smoking while pregnant rates in the country, though the rate fluctuates, she said.
The report says West Virginia is falling short at policies relating to tobacco cessation services, funding for breast and cervical cancer screenings and palliative care. It earned positive ratings for expanding Medicaid access to people who make up to 138 percent of the federal poverty line and for its access to oral chemotherapy drugs.
West Virginia got a negative rating for not prohibiting children under 18 from using tanning beds. Three years ago the state passed a law that said children under 14 have to have parental consent in order to use a tanning bed, she said. One of the advocacy group's main efforts the next legislative session will be to push for a law requiring those under 18 to have parental consent before they can tan. Charleston at one point had the most tanning beds in the country per capita, she said.
"All the issues are important, but of course you can't tackle all issues at once," she said. "We're going to work with the tanning bed issue. We feel there's a need for that to save some lives in West Virginia."
Reach Lori Kersey at
Lori.Kersey@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1240 or follow
@LoriKerseyWV on Twitter.