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7-15-10 Affordable Care Act Update

... Care Act. As always, thank you for all you do every day to support laws and policies that help cancer patients and their families.   Department of Health and Human Services Releases Rules on Prevention Benefits   Yesterday the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released interim ... and insurance companies that offer group or individual health insurance coverage provide beneficiaries with certain preventive benefits at no cost starting September 23, 2010. Preventive services with a rating of "A" or "B" in the current recommendations of the United States Preventive ... at no cost. The rules will encourage millions of people to protect their health by taking advantage of lifesaving preventive measures. Read ACS CAN’s press release   and a New York Times story about the rules.   ACS CAN will submit comments on the rules within the 60-day public comment ...

2-6-13 Affordable Care Act Update

... 1 to state Medicaid directors providing guidance on the 1 percent increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for coverage of preventive services with no co-pay. CMS said the increase applies to services given an A or B rating by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, ... benefit plans will be offered to newly eligible Medicaid enrollees and must include preventive care. If states provide preventive care at no cost to the patient, they will also receive the FMAP increase for those services.    Tax Credits   Last week, the Treasury Department issued a ... of family coverage is 13 percent of wages, neither the worker nor the worker's dependents will be eligible for subsidies in the exchange. ACS CAN and many other consumer groups strongly opposed this policy when it appeared earlier in a proposed regulation, but the administration did not ...

Press Release: Massachusetts advocates praise tobacco tax increase

... Vote Increases Tobacco Taxes – Will Help Prevent Another Tobacco Addicted Generation American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Celebrates $1 Cigarette Tax Increase and Increases in Tax on Other Tobacco Products (Boston, MA) – July 24, 2013 – The Massachusetts House and Senate voted today to override Governor Deval Patrick’s veto of the $500 million transportation finance bill which includes an increase in the state’s tobacco taxes. The bill will raise the cigarette tax by $1 to $3.51, raise the tax on cigars from 30 percent of wholesale to 40 percent of wholesale, and raises the tax on other tobacco products (OTP) from 90 percent of wholesale to 210 percent of ...

4-26-12 Affordable Care Act Update

... Update   This week the House will vote on a measure that diverts funding from the Prevention and Public Health Fund to keep down the costs of student loan interest rates.  ACS CAN sent a letter to all House members opposing any legislation that would cut prevention and public health funding for any purpose, including offsetting the cost of student loan program. Read the ACS CAN press release and letter .   Medical Loss Ratio - Average Rebate Estimates for 2012   Under the ...

7-20-12 Affordable Care Act Update

... bill defunds most Affordable Care Act (ACA) programs, including state grants that will assist states with establishing marketplaces where people can shop and compare options for quality coverage, and funding for the Prevention and Public Health Fund. The House of Representatives made similar cuts in the L/HHS bill last year to ACA programs. However, the Senate retained funding for ACA in their bill, and ... women by expanding and improving health coverage, including access to preventive services such as breast and cervical cancer screenings without cost-sharing.  The Commonwealth Fund expects improved coverage will reduce the percentage of uninsured women from 20 percent to 8 percent. As ...

12/7/12 Affordable Care Act Update

Policy Update On November 30, the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published a draft rule that proposes standards for the Multi-State Plan Program (MSPP). The Affordable Care Act (ACA) ... make more health plans available to consumers and to increase competition, particularly in states where there are currently fewer choices. ACS CAN and other patient and consumer groups have been advocating for multi-state plans that operate on essentially the same basis as other plans in a ... related to policies such as risk adjustment, reinsurance and risk corridors programs, advance payments of the premium tax credit, and cost-sharing reductions. Although the proposal is very technical, the matters addressed are critical to stabilizing prices and ensuring policies ...

Massachusetts: 10-9-09 This Week in Health Care Reform

On Capitol Hill On Thursday morning, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced its "score" of the Senate Finance Committee’s health reform bill, indicating that the revised measure would cost $829 billion, provide coverage to 29 million more U.S. residents and reduce the federal budget deficit by $81 billion in its first 10 years. ... consideration. Leadership has determined that the earliest it could bring a bill to the floor for a vote is the week of October 19.   At ACS CAN, we are optimistic about the developments of the past days. In their current forms, the bills mean huge improvements in the lives of cancer ...

10-5-12 Affordable Care Act Update

Federal Update   Physician networks and hospital systems can play an important role in driving down health care costs and improving quality of care.  The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently released ... a report titled "Plan Participation in Health Insurance Exchanges: Implications for Competition and Choice" that looks at how consolidation of hospital systems affects the ability of insurers to negotiate prices.  Increased competition among insurers can help decrease costs and improve ...

10-6-11 Affordable Care Act Update

Federal Update   Essential Benefits   The Institute of Medicine (IOM) is expected to release its final report on essential health benefits on Friday. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), however, is unlikely to release a final rule until May 2012.  The Affordable Care Act required the IOM to ... during its fall term, with a decision expected before the Supreme Court adjourns for the summer of 2012. The American Cancer Society and ACS CAN filed as "friends of the court" at the appellate level, along with the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association to ...

5-10-12 Affordable Care Act Update

Federal Update   This week the House considered the Sequester Replacement Reconciliation Act, which would cut mandatory funding for a number of health-related programs authorized in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), as well as make cuts to the Medicaid program. ACS CAN, the American Diabetes Association and the American Heart Association sent a joint letter to all House members opposing the repeal of mandatory ... who believes consumers prefer to select from a small number of carefully vetted plans than a large number of plans of widely varying quality and cost. These findings are consistent with what has been found in the Medicare Prescription Drug Program, Medicare Advantage and Medigap markets. ...

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