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NCCS Joins Coalition of Organizations Urging Congress to Extend the Medical Expense Deduction Permanently

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The National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS) joined with AARP and 47 other organizations in letters to the House and Senate asking Members to co-sponsor the Medical Expense Savings Act, which is bipartisan legislation that would make permanent the 7.5 percent threshold for the medical expense deduction. This deduction provides an important tax relief for many patients which helps offset the high costs of cancer care. […]

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Health Care Roundup: Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness; More on “Junk Insurance;” Reviewing Effects of California’s Surprise Billing Law; More

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Ads Offering Bare-Bones Coverage are Everywhere – This Axios article highlights the growing trend of plans being advertised across the internet as “Trumpcare” plans. The problem? “Trumpcare doesn’t exist, and many of these advertised plans offer bare-bones coverage.” “It’s impossible to expect consumers to discern between the good guys and the con artists,” said Sabrina Corlette, a health insurance researcher at Georgetown University. “And […]

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NCCS Survivorship Survey: Cancer Survivors Share Their Top Concerns

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As part of its Elevating Survivorship initiative, NCCS fielded an online survey to understand cancer survivorship experiences and needs across a range of cancer patients. NCCS and our partner patient advocacy organizations promoted the survey to our constituents, and 1,380 cancer survivors responded. Some of the key findings include […]

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Health Care Roundup: Senate Hearing w/Pharma CEOs; Medicare for All Introduced; Logistical Toxicity; FDA Warns About Robotic Surgical Devices; More

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Senate Finance Hearing on Drug Pricing — The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing this week on drug pricing, and Senators questioned seven CEOs from top pharmaceutical companies. While Senators of both parties asked tough questions about pricing practices and price increases, some experts suggested that the hearing was tamer than expected. In the Washington Post, Paige Cunningham wrote, “In the hearing on drug prices […]

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Health Care Roundup: Health Care Spending; Survivorship Care Delivery; Metastatic BC at NY Fashion Week; Susan Gubar on Financial Toxicity; More

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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 projections here. On Wednesday, six hospital groups laid out an eight-point plan for dealing with surprise medical billing, […]

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NCCS and Cancer Leadership Council Highlight Potential Harm to Patients of Proposed Medicare Part D Changes

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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released recently a proposed rule to change Medicare Part D’s protected classes drug coverage. In response, NCCS joined with other patient and provider groups of the Cancer Leadership Council (CLC) to comment on how these proposed changes could impact patients. The proposed rule would give Medicare plans the option to limit coverage of drugs in six categories, including cancer drugs. […]

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Health Care Roundup: Gov’t Shutdown Affects FDA; Health Care Hearings; Insomnia & Cancer; “When Cancer Meets the Internet;” More

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Gov’t Shutdown Affects FDA; Congressional Hearings on Health Care Scheduled – The government shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history. This week, NCCS joined 46 groups in a letter to Congress and President Trump highlighting the impact the shutdown is having on the FDA’s work on behalf of patients. The groups stated that, “…we fear that this continued shutdown not only puts the current health and safety of Americans at risk, but […]

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Health Care Roundup: Drug Pricing in TV Ads; Even with Insurance, Serious Illness Can Mean Financial Distress; Fertility in Young Survivors; More

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HHS Proposes Rule Requiring Drug Pricing in TV Ads – On Monday, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar announced that HHS introduced a proposed rule to require direct-to-consumer television advertisements for prescription drugs include pricing information. According to the proposed rule, drugs paid for by Medicare or Medicaid must include the list price of the drug if it costs more than $35 for a month’s supply […]

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Health Care Roundup: NCCS on Proposed OPPS Changes; Bipartisan Proposal to End ‘Surprise Billing’; Medicaid Work Req’s; Financial Toxicity Survey; More

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HEALTH CARE HIGHLIGHTS—NCCS submitted a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the proposed update to the hospital outpatient prospective payment system, known as OPPS, for calendar year 2019. In the letter, NCCS addressed the proposed “site neutral” payments, which would reduce patient cost-sharing but could have other unintended consequences for patient access. NCCS also commented on […]

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Patient Assistance Programs: Do They Help or Hurt?

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By Rishi Sachdev and Yousuf Zafar, MD — New cancer drugs have improved prognoses for patients, but that improvement in effectiveness has come at a steep cost. The price tag of new anticancer drugs has been increasing at a significant pace, with the latest—Kymriah by Novartis—priced at $475,000 per treatment. These ever-increasing costs result in higher out-of-pocket costs for patients, which have been shown to worsen outcomes. […]

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