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High Deductible Health Plans, Health Savings Accounts and Cancer Patients
High deductible health plans (HDHPs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) are becoming more common in employer-sponsored insurance and the individual and small group markets. These types ... or those at risk for cancer. What is a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP)? A HDHP is a plan that requires more payment “up-front” for health care. If an insurance plan has a deductible, the enrollee must pay for their health care costs in full until he or she has met the deductible. ...
High Deductible Health Plans Cause Extreme Spikes in Cost
The Problem Most patients experience spikes in their health care costs around the time of a cancer diagnosis as they pay their deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. For patients on high deductible plans, ... in high deductible plans is on the rise. ACS CAN Fights for Solutions ACS CAN is concerned about increasing enrollment in high deductible health plans, and how this affects cancer care. ACS CAN supports policies that increase enrollment assistance services to help people understand ...
Survivor Views: Preventive Care Coverage, Medical Debt, & Food Insecurity
... who have been diagnosed with or treated for cancer in the last seven years. Key Findings Ensuring that cancer screenings and preventive care are free for patients (52%) and reducing the burden of medical debt (51%) are the top two priorities for cancer patients and survivors. While ... felt across income levels. 41% have worried they would run out of food and 47% have worried the food they could afford wasn’t good for their health. 40% have accumulated debt in order to purchase food while paying for cancer care. Nearly one-third have felt they had to choose between ... for their cancer care; in an effort to cut costs to afford their care, 47% have worried that the food they had to eat was not good for their health or well-being. The costs of cancer care have caused 40% to accumulate debt in order to afford food, such as buying groceries on credit cards ...
Spikes in Cost Increase the Burden of Affording Cancer Care
The Problem Cancer patients are particularly vulnerable to spikes in their health care costs because many expensive diagnostic tests and treatments are scheduled within a short period of time, so cancer patients spend their ... she experiences a spike in cost of over $8,000 in the first two months of each year. While she may be able to afford to spend this much on her care spread over the whole year, it is just too much to pay all at once. All the while, her other bills don’t stop, and she’s trying to manage ...
Overall Cancer Costs are Rising
The Problem The U.S. spent approximately $183 billion on cancer-related health care in 2015. This represents a signification portion of the total health care spending in the U.S. And it is expected to keep growing. By 2030 cancer-related health care spending is expected to reach nearly $246 ...
Bans on Lifetime and Annual Cost Caps Protect Cancer Patients
... lifetime and annual dollar value of benefits. [i] , [ii] This ban is one of several important patient protections that must be part of any health care system that works for cancer patients. What Are Annual Limits? Prior to the current requirements in the health care law, health insurance plans could set a limit on the annual amount they would spend on an enrollee’s health benefits. Once the ...
Medical Debt and Cancer
... with cancer, their caregivers and their families. ACS CAN has long fought for public policies – like access to comprehensive and affordable health insurance coverage – that reduce the likelihood or severity of that debt. Unfortunately, many Americans remain uninsured or underinsured ... and even those with comprehensive coverage can still incur significant medical debt. 1,2 People with cancer often bear significant health care costs because they can have substantial health care needs, are high utilizers of health care services, use many different providers, ...
Out-of-Pocket Spending Limits Are Crucial for Cancer Patients & Survivors
Many patients with complex diseases like cancer find it difficult to afford their treatments – even when they have health insurance. Current law establishes a limit on what most private insurance plans can require enrollees to pay in out-of-pocket costs. [1] These limits protect patients from extremely high costs and are essential to any health care system that works for cancer patients and survivors. What is a Maximum Out-of-Pocket Limit (MOOP)? Out-of-pocket costs are the costs enrollees ...
Some Insurance Plans Come with Higher Patient Costs
The Problem The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has helped individuals with pre-existing conditions like cancer access comprehensive health insurance and afford their care. But the law is at risk of being dismantled. The risks of losing ACA protections are clear when you look at current plans that do not have to ...