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Guest Post: My Internship at ACS CAN
... the work you were doing before, shift gears, or do both. Professor Robert Blendon's excellent course on Political Analysis and Strategy for U.S. Health Care Policy provided me with a crash course on the politics that shape health policy in this country - an area that I had only experienced personally, not academically or professionally. This summer, I am working for ...
How Does Your State Measure Up on Policies to Fight Cancer in 2015?
... legislatures are missing opportunities to enact laws and policies that could not only save lives, but also generate new revenue and long-term health care savings. This year's report ranks where states stand on nine public policy issues that play a critical role in reducing cancer incidence ... life. I'm looking forward to seeing the outcome of these state recommendations. Another key trend we are seeing is increasing access to health care in the states through Medicaid. States have the option to accept federal dollars that have already been set aside to provide uninsured ...
Supreme Court Decision a Victory for Cancer Patients
... most important days in the history of the fight against cancer in this country. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled this morning that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional. In doing so, the Court upheld numerous provisions that are critical to ensuring that people with cancer and other life-threatening chronic diseases can access quality, affordable health care. These include provisions that: Prohibit insurance companies from denying health coverage to people with a pre-existing condition such as cancer Require insurers to provide consumers with easy-to-understand summaries ...
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month: Ensuring Childhood Cancer Patients Can Survive and Thrive
Each September, ACS CAN joins patients, survivors, caregivers and public health advocates to recognize Childhood Cancer Awareness Month to elevate issues critical to the childhood cancer community. 15,000 children under ... a comprehensive bill that advances childhood cancer research and increases transparency and expertise for research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While these investments in research have led to improved treatments for certain types of childhood cancer, side effects of these ... suffering throughout their lifetime. To improve quality of life for childhood cancer patients and their families, pediatric palliative care can be provided by a coordinated team of doctors, nurses, social workers and child life specialists as a way to manage symptoms, improve ...
Guest Blog: ACS CAN Volunteer Joins HHS Secretary for Families Week Teleconference
... Taylor, and courageous advocate for access to meaningful healthcare for cancer patients and survivors. This afternoon, Amy joined Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to discuss the ACA's critical patient protections and the importance of obtaining coverage by the ... call represents just the latest effort by the Wilhite family to raise awareness about the importance of dependable and comprehensive access to care for cancer patients and survivors. The Wilhites shared Taylor's story in the report, Spending to Survive: Cancer Patients Confront Holes in the Health Care System, jointly released in 2009 by the American Cancer Society and Kaiser Family Foundation. Amy and Taylor also joined others ...
Maine Voters Support Expanding Access to Medicaid
The Maine Legislature passed and delivered bills to expand access to health coverage via Medicaid to Governor Paul Le Page five times over the last several years, only to be thwarted by a veto with each attempt. On ... Election Day, Maine voters finally had their say on the issue and overwhelmingly cast their ballots in favor of increasing access to affordable health coverage for low-income people in their state. The final vote on Maine’s Question 2 was 59 percent for expansion, clearly indicating that ... diagnosed with cancer at later stages – when it’s more costly and difficult to treat – and with poorer outcomes. By increasing access to care, Maine is ensuring better health outcomes and a healthier, thriving state population in the future. Roughly half of all cancers are ...
Guest Post: The Better End
... Dan told me about a book he wrote on advanced directives, or living wills, which enable people to exercise control over their care should they become incapacitated. Patient control is important in all aspects of medical care and is a key focus of ACS CAN's advocacy ... will). An advance directive not only specifies the patient's wishes for treatment in various situations, it also appoints a health care agent with medical power of attorney to make decisions in the event of incapacity. This is especially important for cancer patients, ... If you haven't completed one, now is the time. Ask your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues to do the same. This is one aspect of health care reform that depends entirely on individual action. Let's do this together. Dan Morhaim, M.D. is board-certified in Internal ...
Two Pieces to the Puzzle: Innovation and Access
Innovation is one of the most exciting, energizing areas of the cancer landscape. I started my career in health care more than 20 years ago, and am frequently amazed at the incredible advances we have witnessed in the field. How we understand and approach ... lifesaving therapies. This incredibly important issue was discussed extensively yesterday during our 9 th annual National Forum on the Future of Health Care. Experts representing numerous health care sectors convened to share multiple solutions that could address the existing barriers ...
Putting the Voices of Cancer Patients Front and Center
The public health and economic crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed nearly every facet of our society including workplaces, home life and health care systems. The toll that it’s taken on our life in such a short time is, frankly, unfathomable. ACS CAN is certainly no exception; from ...
Moving Our Mission, One State at a Time
... this summer in two states where elected officials had been resistant, voters took matters into their own hands and decided to increase access to health insurance coverage for low-income residents by fully expanding their Medicaid programs at the ballot box. When the initiatives go into effect, an estimated 200,000 low-income parents and adults in Oklahoma and 230,000 in Missouri , will gain access to health insurance. To say these are anything less than incredible wins for our mission would be an understatement. Just as outstanding as both Oklahoma and Missouri expanding access to care through Medicaid in back-to-back elections is how this was accomplished: These mark the fifth and sixth states since 2017 to pass Medicaid ...