Access to Care

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Access to quality, affordable cancer care is essential for anyone with a cancer diagnosis. Access includes adequate health insurance that covers needed treatments without leaving people with cancer to suffer “financial toxicity.” People with cancer also need the ability to participate in a clinical trial, if it represents a potential treatment option.

Prior to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), cancer survivors were at the mercy of the health care system, often forced to pay exorbitant premiums or simply denied coverage altogether. Today, America’s 18.1 million cancer survivors benefit from the ACA’s patient protections that provide them with quality, affordable, and accessible health care coverage. Through the ACA, cancer patients and survivors can now purchase insurance through Healthcare.gov and state insurance exchanges. The ACA has afforded protections related to out-of-pocket expenses, lifetime caps, and pre-existing conditions.

Cancer Nation 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.

“For a cancer survivor, dealing with the collateral damage of cancer treatment and the continued surveillance for recurrence or secondary cancers, going without insurance is simply not an option. I am very worried that the proposed replacement for the ACA will harm cancer survivors, particularly people with low incomes and people over the age of 50. We simply can’t go back to the days before the ACA when cancer survivors could be denied coverage, and we must ensure people have access to quality, affordable health insurance.”

Michael Kappel, Cancer Nation board member and 13-year colon cancer survivor

Health Care Roundup: “Surprise” Billing and ACA Updates; NCCS on Fear of Cancer Recurrence; Study on Long-Term Young Survivors; End-of-Life Care; More

February 21, 2020

How Should Patients Be Protected From “Surprise” Medical Bills? The Latest: Democratic and Republican House staffers met with Speaker Pelosi’s office to try to protect patients from getting large “surprise” medical bills. There was no breakthrough, according to The Hill. The Issue: Patients can receive extremely high medical bills during emergency situations when they are taken to an out-of-network hospital, or from out-of-network providers, even [...]

Health Care Roundup: New Surprise Billing Proposal; When a Young Adult Has Cancer; Breakthrough Immune Cell Discovery; NCCS Project Webinar; More

February 7, 2020

NCCS joined with other patient groups in an amicus brief (a friend of the court brief) this week to challenge the administration’s October 2019 proclamation that would prevent immigrants from entering the U.S. if they cannot show they will be covered by approved health insurance within 30 days of entering the U.S. The proclamation would allow ACA-exempt, short-term limited duration insurance plans which, as we have reported, do not provide [...]

Webinar Video – Redefining Functional Status: A Patient-Led Quality Measurement Effort

February 7, 2020

"What would health care measurement look like if it reflected what patients and caregivers say matters most to them?" Quality measurement in cancer care is primarily focused on ensuring patients get the right tests and treatments, not whether those treatments help cancer survivors live well during and after cancer. NCCS embarked on an initiative to define quality measures by engaging survivors themselves to identify what’s important to measure. [...]

NCCS Expresses Opposition to CMS Healthy Adult Opportunity Guidance Permitting Medicaid Block Grants

January 30, 2020

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) earlier today announced a guidance to state Medicaid programs that encourages states to create a block grant program for the portion of their Medicaid program expanded under the Affordable Care Act. The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) opposes the CMS action to permit Medicaid block grants because of their potential negative impact on people with cancer. NCCS issued the statement below [...]

Health Care Roundup: SCOTUS Prolongs ACA Lawsuit Review; Coping with Isolation; Medicaid Block Grants; The Nursing Shortage; More

January 24, 2020

Supreme Court Will Not Consider ACA Lawsuit Until After 2020 Election – The Supreme Court announced on January 21 that it would not consider the ACA lawsuit on an expedited basis before the 2020 election. NCCS is disappointed in this decision but remains hopeful the Supreme Court will hear the case later this year. NCCS recently joined with other patient groups in an amicus brief to the Court asking them to fast-track consideration of whether [...]

Health Care Roundup: ACA Lawsuit Update; Why Drug Importation Is Unlikely to Work; Annual Cancer Statistics; End-of-Life Care; A.I. in the O.R.; More

January 10, 2020

Affordable Care Act (ACA) Lawsuit Update – Before Christmas, the Fifth Circuit announced its ruling in the ACA lawsuit, Texas v. US. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 opinion, upheld the District Court ruling that the individual mandate is unconstitutional. However, the Fifth Circuit remanded the case back to the District Court for a more careful consideration of the issue of severability. In effect, the Fifth Circuit directed the District Court judge [...]

NCCS Statement on ACA Lawsuit Ruling Issued by Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

December 19, 2019

The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) notes that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued its opinion in the case of Texas v. United States, a case challenging the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In a 2-1 opinion, the Fifth Circuit upheld the decision of the District Court for the Northern District of Texas that found the ACA individual mandate unconstitutional. However, the appellate court remanded the case to the District Court for additional [...]

NCCS Submits Comments to CMS on Oncology Care First Model

December 18, 2019

The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) submitted comments in response to an Informal Request for Information on the proposed Oncology Care First Model. This model was released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The comments focus on concerns regarding adequate resources in the model to support high quality cancer care. The letter also identifies shortcomings in the model that could influence [...]

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Access to Care

Health Care Roundup: “Surprise” Billing and ACA Updates; NCCS on Fear of Cancer Recurrence; Study on Long-Term Young Survivors; End-of-Life Care; More

Health Care Roundup: New Surprise Billing Proposal; When a Young Adult Has Cancer; Breakthrough Immune Cell Discovery; NCCS Project Webinar; More

Webinar Video – Redefining Functional Status: A Patient-Led Quality Measurement Effort

NCCS Expresses Opposition to CMS Healthy Adult Opportunity Guidance Permitting Medicaid Block Grants

Health Care Roundup: SCOTUS Prolongs ACA Lawsuit Review; Coping with Isolation; Medicaid Block Grants; The Nursing Shortage; More

Health Care Roundup: ACA Lawsuit Update; Why Drug Importation Is Unlikely to Work; Annual Cancer Statistics; End-of-Life Care; A.I. in the O.R.; More

NCCS Statement on ACA Lawsuit Ruling Issued by Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

NCCS Submits Comments to CMS on Oncology Care First Model

The Right to Thrive: A Conversation on the Lainie Jones Comprehensive Cancer Survivorship Act

Cancer Nation Statement: Medicaid Work Requirements Will Unfairly Burden Cancer Survivors

Webinar – Understanding Blood-Based Testing in Cancer Care

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