NCCS believes in the following principles for access to care:

• Individuals with pre-existing conditions must not be denied coverage or charged higher premiums.
• Plans must cover all essential health care needs.
• Adequate financial assistance must be provided to ensure people with low and moderate incomes can purchase health insurance.
• Insurers must not discriminate against older Americans, who are disproportionately impacted by cancer, or women.
• Cost-sharing protections must be maintained, including caps on out-of-pocket costs and the elimination of annual and lifetime maximum benefits.
• States should take advantage of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion, which provides coverage to low income individuals living with cancer.
• People with pre-existing conditions must not be segregated into high-risk pools, which are expensive and burdensome and do not meet the needs of cancer patients.
• Cancer patients must have access to comprehensive and well-coordinated cancer care, including clinical trials.