Because it’s all about the uninsured.  But hey, at least they’re taking a break from all those nanny-state smoking bans they’re usually backing.

ATLANTA, Aug. 30 — In a stark departure from past practice, the American Cancer Society plans to devote its entire $15 million advertising budget this year not to smoking cessation or colorectal screening but to the consequences of inadequate health coverage.

The campaign was born of the group’s frustration that cancer rates are not dropping as rapidly as hoped, and of recent research linking a lack of insurance to delays in detecting malignancies.

Though the advertisements are nonpartisan and pointedly avoid specific prescriptions, they are intended to intensify the political focus on an issue that is already receiving considerable attention from presidential candidates in both parties.

The society’s advertisements are unique, say experts in both philanthropy and advertising, in that disease-fighting charities traditionally limit their public appeals to narrower aspects of prevention or education.

But the leaders of several such organizations, including the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association and the Alzheimers Association, said they applauded the campaign’s message that progress against chronic disease would be halting until the country fixed its health care system.

Meanwhile, the US beats every other nation in the world (meaning all of the nations with “universal health care") in terms of cancer survival rates.  So you can’t tell me this move from the ACS isn’t political.  We’re the best in the world on cancer, and while that doesn’t mean we can’t improve it certainly means we shouldn’t be taking a step backwards toward doing thins like Canada and the UK do them.