Health Care Roundup: ACA Open Enrollment News; Head and Neck Survivor Mental Health Study; Fear of Recurrence Webinar; More
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HEALTH CARE HIGHLIGHT
Open Enrollment for ACA Now Underway
Open enrollment for 2019 ACA plans began yesterday and will run through December 15, 2018. Despite numerous attempts to repeal the ACA in 2017 and an ongoing court case in Texas, the ACA continues ahead, business as usual, for the most part. Many Americans will qualify for financial help that lowers their monthly premiums to between $50 and $100. Tara Siegel Bernard reports in the New York Times:
Premium prices could be even lower this year, had it not been for administrative and congressional actions nullifying the individual mandate and promoting short-term and association-based health plans. A Kaiser Family Foundation analysis highlighted:
Regardless of the policy or political implications, the bottom line is that cancer patients and survivors rely on access to quality and affordable health care. Right now, that coverage is accessible for many, if not most, through the Affordable Care Act. It is imperative that people sign up for coverage at healthcare.gov BEFORE December 15.
Additional Information:
- Why Do Short-Term Health Insurance Plans Have Lower Premiums Than Plans That Comply with the ACA?
- For Business Owners Mulling Association Health Plans: If the Prices Look Too Good To Be True, They May Be
CHART OF THE WEEK
ACA’s Pre-Existing Condition Protections Find Bipartisan Support Ahead of Midterms
Morning Consult
This chart is quite revealing in the context of the Texas lawsuit to block the ACA and repeated Congressional attempts to repeal the ACA.
83% of Democrats, 80% of GOP voters say insurers should have to cover people with pre-existing conditions: https://t.co/UeeudrVYpv pic.twitter.com/9bQn6Mp8O4
— Morning Consult (@MorningConsult) September 15, 2018
IMPORTANT READS
Survivors of Head and Neck Cancers Have an Elevated Risk for Suicide
AJMC.com
A recent study published in Cancer highlights the difficult survivorship issues thousands of patients with head and neck cancer must face. The authors highlight that these severe challenges cause HNC survivors to be “twice as likely to die by suicide that survivors of other cancers.” These are sobering statistics that will hopefully lead to more interventions and support services for HNC patients and survivors.
Fear of Cancer Recurrence Webinar
NCCS
NCCS hosted recently a webinar entitled, “Understanding Fear of Cancer Recurrence.” Dr. Sarah Reed, MSW, MPH, PhD, at University of California, Davis, shared her insights and research on fear of recurrence and offered tips and strategies to help reduce the intense anxiety.
https://canceradvocacy.org/nccs-news/nccs-webinar-video-understanding-fear-of-cancer-recurrence/
Watch a recording of the webinar on our blog »
Studies Warn Against Minimally Invasive Surgery for Cervical Cancer
New York Times
Two new studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine are the first to provide insights into minimally invasive surgery versus an open abdominal operation for cervical cancer. Researchers found that minimally invasive surgery “was more likely to result in recurrence of the cancer and death.” The article highlights that the results are already changing medical practice, quoting a doctor at M.D. Anderson saying they’ve stopped doing minimally invasive procedures for cervical cancer.
4 in 10 Believe Alternative Therapies Cure Cancer
WebMD
In the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s National Cancer Opinion Survey, 38 percent of respondents said they believe alternative therapies alone can cure cancer, despite evidence of higher mortality rates for people who use alternative therapies in lieu of standard cancer treatments.
Related Posts
https://canceradvocacy.org/blog/health-care-roundup-oct-26-2018/
https://canceradvocacy.org/blog/health-care-roundup-oct-19-2018/
