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Supreme Court Decision ACS CAN is continuing to review last week's historic Supreme Court ruling on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to gain a full understanding of the impact of the decision on people with cancer and their families. In the meantime, we are pleased ... that Congress had exceeded its authority under the US Constitution in two primary ways: 1) By requiring most Americans to obtain or purchase health insurance by 2014 (the so-called "individual mandate"); and 2) By requiring states to expand Medicaid eligibility beyond its current scope ... feature of any tax is to produce at least some revenue for the government. Essentially, the Court ruled that the penalty for not purchasing health insurance "looks like a tax in many respects" and will yield revenue for the government; therefore, the fee that will be imposed on those ...

... by $3.7 billion over the next 10 years.   The plan would also impact funding for discretionary programs, such as the National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control, along with Medicare.   However, the reductions in spending under this plan are not nearly as significant ... that will resolve the budget stalemate while leaving important programs, such as Medicare, intact. HHS Releases Proposed Regulation for CO-OP Health Insurance Plans Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed standards for establishing CO-OP health insurance plans. To ...   Profits realized by a CO-OP must be reinvested in the plans through lower premiums, better benefits, or other improvements in health care quality.   A CO-OP will also have the option to sell coverage to small businesses. Institute of Medicine Releases Recommendations on Coverage ...

Below is this week’s update on the Affordable Care Act. As always, thank you for all you do every day for cancer patients and their families.   ACS CAN Comments on Interim Final Rule on Lifetime and Annual Limits   ACS CAN submitted comments to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the Interim Final Rule that was released by HHS in June.   The rule would implement provisions of the ... and annual dollar limits on benefits, rescissions and patient protections.   Overall, the rule is strong and expands patients’ access to health care. ACS CAN’s comments focus on several specific concerns relating to the structure of the rules on lifetime and annual limits.   ACS ...

Federal Update   Hearing on Repealing Grandfathered Plans and Medical Loss Ratio Provisions    The House Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee held a hearing this afternoon focused on draft legislation that will be introduced soon to roll back consumer protections for plans designated as "grandfathered" -- individual health insurance plans and employer-based health insurance plans already in existence when the Affordable Care Act was signed into law on March 23, 2010. The legislation would exempt grandfathered plans from adopting important insurance reforms included ...