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Palliative Care Legislation Signed in Maryland
... advances in their own efforts. On Thursday, Maryland became the first state to enact legislation that will help improve access to palliative care for people with serious illnesses and their families. It's a victory worth celebrating! The Hospitals Establishment of Palliative Care Programs in Maryland bill requires the establishment of at least five palliative care pilot programs - as selected by the Maryland Health Care Commission (MHCC) - in hospitals with at least 50 beds. The pilot programs must follow certain procedures and are required to collaborate with health care providers to measure whether the pilot programs impact health care costs, improve access to health care and enhance patient choice. The ...
How the ACA is Helping to Address Health Disparities
This National Minority Health Month coincides with the end of the 2014 open enrollment period for the health care marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act. While there's been much in the news about the law, I wanted to take a look at one ...
Pursuing Health Equity Through New and Diverse Partnerships
April is National Minority Health Month, which recognizes the need to raise awareness about health disparities that continue to affect minority communities and the need for health equity. Minority groups in the United States continue to ... gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community through health and wellness initiatives and ensuring these issues are part of the national health care dialogue. Through this collaboration, ACS CAN, the American Cancer Society and NBJC will raise awareness about cancer issues in the Black ...
Palliative Care Legislation Reintroduced in New Congress
For millions of cancer patients and their families, palliative care can play an essential role in improving their quality of life throughout treatment and survivorship. Yet, many Americans remain unaware about ... research focused on palliative care and symptom management and improve palliative care training for nurses, doctors, social workers, and other health care professionals. It would also establish a national palliative care public awareness campaign to educate patients and providers about the availability and benefits of palliative care. Palliative care can transform the way health care providers treat cancer patients and others with serious illnesses by improving their quality of care, while also saving health care ...
Tobacco Tax Victory in Nevada a Win for Public Health
... the taxes on cigarettes is estimated to be more than $192 million in the first two years. Combined with at least $474 million in long-term health care cost savings from the cigarette tax, the increases are likely to have a tremendous positive impact both on the state budget and for reducing health care costs in Nevada. It's time for more states to take action to save lives and keep kids from using tobacco by passing significant ...
Supreme Court to Review Affordable Care Act
The Supreme Court announced today that it would consider the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act sometime next spring. The announcement follows four federal appeals court rulings on the Affordable Care Act, resulting in split decisions regarding the individual responsibility provision of the law, otherwise known as the "Individual Mandate". ... in a way that supports and strengthens provisions of the law that enable cancer patients and their families to access quality, affordable health care. Supreme Court to Review Affordable Care Act ...
Guest Blog from HHS Asst. Secretary for Health Dr. Howard Koh
Howard Koh, MD, MPH, is the Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Almost everyone has lost a loved one to cancer. But this tragedy is only compounded when we realize afterwards that some ... , represents a vital opportunity for all of us. We can all commit to improving efforts for cancer prevention for ourselves and the people we care about. Of course, treatment strategies are critically important, too. As a physician who has cared for patients for more than 30 years, I know ...
Guest Post: Accelerating Health Equity by Eliminating Cancer Disparities
April is National Minority Health Month. One of our priorities at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is supporting public policies that work to ... lawmakers to support legislation aimed at sustaining NIH funding levels, reducing financial burdens on patients and ultimately eliminating health disparities, ACS CAN joined three of our public health and research partners to co-host a Congressional briefing last month. The briefing, ... and control, this focus is particularly relevant. Over and over again, research studies have shown significant differences in access to cancer care and the quality of treatment received in minority and vulnerable populations. Achieving the highest level of health for everyone will require ...
Personalized Medicine: The Future of Cancer Care
... class, we all inherit genes from our parents that determine specific traits like our physical features, natural talents and sometimes our health. A decade-long federal investment in the " Human Genome Project " made it possible to catalog the over 20,000 "standard" human genes we all ... As new personalized medicines make their way into the clinic we will see significant changes in the way cancer is diagnosed and treated. Our health care system will have to be ready to adapt to the information demands and increased specificity of therapies. We have also seen an explosion of new ...
SCOTUS Upholds Financial Assistance Provided Under the Affordable Care Act
In an historic decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that Congress intended for tax credits provided under the Affordable Care Act to be available to people who buy a health plan in a health insurance marketplace run by their state or the federal government. The Court's ruling on the case, known as King v. Burwell , ensures ...