A Kevin Coughlin Update

This just in...

• The Ohio Senate recently passed Kevin's SB 278 requiring colorectal cancer screenings to be covered by private and public health plans. Early detection of colorectal cancer results in a 90% survival rate with average treatments costs of $10,000. Late detection results in an 8% survival rate with treatment costs exceeding $100,000. SB 278 saves taxpayers, businesses, and individuals money and will save lives. For his work on this issue, Kevin has been named the American Cancer Society's Cancer Advocate of the Year. Attached below is a photo of Kevin signing the Fight Back Express tour bus.
You can watch Kevin's Senate floor speech and the vote on this bill here:http://www.ohiochannel.org/multimedia/organizations/media.cfm?file_id=113390&start_time=3869&organization_id=30



• The legislature has also passed Kevin's Grieving Parents Act (SB 175), allowing parents who experience a miscarriage to take possession and bury fetal remains. Currently, the remains are often incinerated as medical waste without knowledge of the parents. The bill is before the governor for his signature. You can watch Kevin's Senate floor speech and the vote on this bill here:http://www.ohiochannel.org/multimedia/organizations/media.cfm?file_id=111371&start_time=00:24:49&organization_id=30

• The House is gearing up to vote on Kevin's Special Education Scholarship bill (SB 57). The bill establishes a pilot program to allow kids with special needs to attend the school that best suits their individual needs. You can watch Kevin's Senate floor speech and the vote on this bill here: http://www.ohiochannel.org/multimedia/organizations/media.cfm?file_id=113130&start_time=752&organization_id=30

• Finally, the National Alliance for Mental Illness Ohio named Kevin their 2008 Legislator of the Year for his work to reverse a Strickland administration policy of switching mental health Medicaid patients to generic drugs. http://www.namiohio.org/