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Patient advocates & public health leaders rally around proposed investment to alleviate medical debt in Pennsylvania

... impact of disease on patients and families, a new study from the American Cancer Society (ACS) shows that medical debt is associated with worse health status, more premature deaths and higher mortality rates. Researchers with the ACS have found that medical debt was associated with more days of poor physical and mental health, more years of life lost and higher mortality rates for all-cause and leading causes of death at the county level in the United States. The ... Shapiro’s Executive Budget to invest $4 million to wipe out as much as $400 million in Pennsylvanians’ medical debt. “The costs of cancer care are out of reach for many Pennsylvanians, which may lead to delayed treatment and impossible choices between accessing life-saving healthcare ...

Cancer Patients and Survivors Celebrate the Successes of the Affordable Care Act in the Last 13 Years; Call on Lawmakers to Protect this Progress and Continue Improving Access to Care

Washington, D.C. – March 22, 2022 – This Thursday will mark 13 years since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law and cancer patients, survivors, and millions of others gained expanded access to comprehensive health coverage. The law, which put in place critical protections for people with pre-existing conditions and provided numerous benefits that have ... passage, pre-existing conditions, regardless of how minor or how serious, often meant being blocked from accessing comprehensive, high quality health insurance when people needed it most, including for those with a cancer diagnosis,” said Dr. Karen E. Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer ...

ACS CAN Letter Expresses Support for Legislation to Improve Health Coverage Affordability for Middle and Low Income Americans

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) sent a letter expressing support for the Health Insurance Rate Authority Act of 2010 -- legislation that works to improve the affordability of health coverage by requiring oversight and control of insurance industry rate-setting practices. The letter went to lead sponsors of the ... of S. 3078 and H.R. 4757, the Health Insurance Rate Authority Act of 2010. Over the past year and a half ACS CAN has participated in the health care reform debate from the perspective of a cancer patient. Providing all Americans with access to adequate and affordable health care will ...

North Carolina Lawmakers Further Delay Access to Care for 600,000 Constituents 

... meaning that 600,000 hard-working, would-be eligible North Carolinians are forced to wait even longer for a chance at affordable access to care. To date, 38 states and the District of Columbia have taken the lifesaving action of increasing access to their Medicaid programs. North ... issue thus far is profoundly disappointing for many patients with cancer and their families in North Carolina as they struggle with access to care. Moreover, if access is not expanded, the cancer disparities that disproportionally affect Black, Latino, and rural communities in the state ... who will be diagnosed with cancer, to work with North Carolina policymakers to expand Medicaid for those hard-working North Carolinians in the health care coverage gap and whose lives stand to markedly improve.” ###          0 North Carolina Lawmakers Further Delay Access to Care ...

North Carolina Lawmakers Further Delay Access to Care for 600,000 Constituents

... meaning that 600,000 hard-working, would-be eligible North Carolinians are forced to wait even longer for a chance at affordable access to care. To date, 38 states and the District of Columbia have taken the lifesaving action of increasing access to their Medicaid programs. North ... issue thus far is profoundly disappointing for many patients with cancer and their families in North Carolina as they struggle with access to care.     “Moreover, if access is not expanded, the cancer disparities that disproportionally affect Black, Latino, and rural communities in ... who will be diagnosed with cancer, to work with North Carolina policymakers to expand Medicaid for those hard-working North Carolinians in the health care coverage gap and whose lives stand to markedly improve.”  0 North Carolina Lawmakers Further Delay Access to Care for 600,000 ...

New Report: Cancer Survivors Face High Costs of Care and Debt Years After Treatment

... recurrence or secondary cancers, ongoing side effects from their initial cancer treatment, late and long-term side effects, and mental health care needs. Research shows cancer survivors have higher annual out-of-pocket health care costs and carry more cancer-related medical debt than people who have not had cancer. “The end of cancer treatment, unfortunately, is ...

Report: Complex Medicare Appeals Process Leaves Patients at Risk for Delayed or Denied Care

Washington, D.C.— As millions of seniors and other enrollees select their 2021 Medicare health benefits during annual open enrollment, a new report details just how confusing the program’s appeals process can be should a patient need to appeal a claim denial for health care services or prescription drugs. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) report examines the myriad complex steps, ...

NIH and NCI Funding Increased in FY 2021 Budget Deal; Access to Care Prioritized

... D.C.,—Congress approved an FY 2021 funding deal that includes an increase for biomedical research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and cancer research at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). In a tough budget environment, the spending bill includes a $1.25 billion ... work, therefore, additional increases in the next Congress will be more critical than ever. Congress did prioritize efforts to make cancer care more affordable. By passing the Removing Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening Act, unexpected out-of-pocket costs Medicare beneficiaries can face after a colonoscopy if a polyp is found and removed will be phased out. Individuals on private health plans enjoy full coverage of colorectal cancer screenings as a result of the Affordable Care Act, but a loophole in Medicare can result in ...

Senators Urged to Defend Critical New Patient Protections by Voting Against Affordable Care Act Repeal

... (ACS CAN) is encouraging people with cancer and others impacted by the disease to call on lawmakers to vote against a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which includes important patient protections that are providing families with greater access to quality, affordable care.  The U.S. ... officer of ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society.  “The evidence is clear that lack of access to meaningful health care is linked to later stage cancer diagnoses, which are more expensive to treat and harder to survive.” Several patient protections included in the Affordable Care Act improve the health care system for cancer patients and their families by • Banning pre-existing condition exclusions, • Eliminating annual and lifetime ...

National Health Groups Urge Supreme Court to Protect Executive Agencies’ Authority in Case of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo

WASHINGTON, D.C. – September 22, 2023 –Today, leading public health, consumer and provider groups filed an amicus curiae (or friend-of-the-court) brief in the case of Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo ... of statutes. As part of the Loper case, the high court will consider one question that poses a significant threat to the country’s health care system by undermining the work of federal health agencies such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).   CMS is an ...

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