NCCS recently submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) regarding the Medicare physician fee schedule for calendar year 2021. The comment letter focuses on telehealth-related provisions of the proposed rule, as we are learning from our findings from our Telehealth Project that both patients and ...

NCCS joined with other cancer patient and provider groups in a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the proposed rule related to the hospital outpatient prospective payment system. Among the issues outlined in the letter is a concern about an additional reduction in payment ...

NCCS Hosts First-Ever Virtual Cancer Policy Roundtable – Last week, NCCS hosted its spring Cancer Policy Roundtable event, which convened patient advocates, providers, health care experts, and government agencies to discuss pressing issues in cancer care policy. NCCS has been hosting roundtables for 20 years, but given the public health ...

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 ...

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 ...

House Drug Pricing Bill Advances Out of Committee – The biggest health care news this week was the approval by the House Ways and Means Committee of H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act — Speaker Pelosi's drug pricing bill. The bill advanced along party lines, with opponents citing ...

CAR-T therapies, a cutting-edge type of immunotherapy, are seen by many as the next generation for cancer treatments. Of course, they are expensive and complicated to administer. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced long-awaited policies regarding payment for these treatments. CMS stated, “Medicare will pay for ...

NCCS and member organizations of the Cancer Leadership Council (CLC) submitted comments to the HHS in response to the agency’s Notice of Benefits and Payment Parameters for 2020. The Notice contains rules and provisions that will apply to the individual market (the Affordable Care Act marketplace), and small group health ...

This week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published new health care spending projections for the United States. Unsurprisingly, Medicare spending growth is projected to outpace that of other payers in the coming decade due to enrollment growth and higher use of services. See a breakdown of the ...

This week, the House of Representatives voted to formally intervene in Texas v. United States, the lawsuit seeking to invalidate the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With support from three Republican members, it passed by a vote of 235-192. The resolution now heads to the Senate where Republican leaders will likely ...