(Radio Iowa) – A new report from the American Lung Association finds much more needs to be done to end the devastating burden of lung cancer on Iowa families. Kristina Hamilton, the association’s advocacy director for Iowa, says the “State of Lung Cancer” report looks at ten primary categories. “Iowa actually is below average in several of the categories,” Hamilton says, “including new cases, five-year survival, surgery as a form of treatment, and the smoking rate, so we certainly have a good amount of work to do.” Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in Iowa, while the report ranks Iowa 39th in the nation for its rate of new lung cancer cases. The report finds more than 16-percent of Iowa high schoolers use tobacco or e-cigarettes.

“We’re particularly concerned about the smoking rate, given cigarette smoking has declined over the past several decades,” Hamilton says, “but unfortunately, Iowa is still higher than the national average and it is the leading cause of lung cancer and preventable deaths.” Hamilton says initiatives will be pushed in the state legislative session, which opens in January, to help discourage smoking in Iowa. “The tax on the cigarettes has not been increased in 18 years,” Hamilton says, “so with inflation and the changing tobacco products landscape, we think it’s past time for Iowa to increase that tax and we’re asking for $1.50 per pack, and then there’s no excise tax on e-cigarettes at all.” She says e-cigarettes are the only tobacco product sold in Iowa that’s not subject to a tax.

While the report gives Iowa a thumbs-down grade on five of the ten key categories, Hamilton says the state is doing at least one thing that’s worthy of praise. “The legislature and the governor now require insurance plans to cover comprehensive biomarker testing,” Hamilton says, “and that is a very significant advancement for lung cancer treatment and treatment of other chronic conditions.” That testing looks for changes in the tumor’s D-N-A. The results of the test may show biomarkers that can help determine what treatment options would be best for an individual patient. Insurance coverage of biomarker testing is important for removing a cost barrier to people with lung cancer, but coverage for biomarker testing is only required in some states.

The report found that Iowa does require insurance coverage of comprehensive biomarker testing.