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American Cancer Society calls for price fairness and upping smoking age in Michigan

LANSING, MI (MPRN)--   Some health advocates want to raise the minimum age for tobacco purchases.

The American Cancer Society also wants changes to make pricing for cancer treatments fairer in Michigan.

Right now, insurance companies in Michigan can make cancer patients pay more out of pocket for oral chemotherapy drugs than they do for intravenous drugs.

Andrew Schepers is with the American Cancer Society.

“We want to level the playing field in all pharmaceutical treatment types in cancer patients,” he says.

Schepers also says they also want lawmakers to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21. He says that would reduce the number of people addicted to nicotine.

Before becoming the newest Capitol reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network, Cheyna Roth was an attorney. She spent her days fighting it out in court as an assistant prosecuting attorney for Ionia County. Eventually, Cheyna took her investigative and interview skills and moved on to journalism. She got her masters at Michigan State University and was a documentary filmmaker, podcaster, and freelance writer before finding her home with NPR. Very soon after joining MPRN, Cheyna started covering the 2016 presidential election, chasing after Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and all their surrogates as they duked it out for Michigan. Cheyna also focuses on the Legislature and criminal justice issues for MPRN. Cheyna is obsessively curious, a passionate storyteller, and an occasional backpacker. Follow her on Twitter at @Cheyna_R