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Biomarker testing helps connect patients with the right treatment at the right time. ACS CAN and partners are working together to make sure more Maine residents can benefit from this important testing.   What is Biomarker Testing? In cancer care, biomarkers are often used to help determine the best treatment for a patient . A “ biomarker ” is a sign of a normal biological process, disease or abnormal function that can be measured in blood, tissue or bodily fluid.  Biomarker testing is the analysis of a patient’s tissue, blood or other biospecimen for the presence of a biomarker.   Political action is needed to ensure more Maine ...

In the States   As we previously noted in this space, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has tasked each state with defining an essential health benefits (EHB) package that will cover 10 broad ... market.  If a state fails to select a plan by September 30, the EHB benchmark defaults to the largest small-group plan in the state.   ACS CAN and several other consumer groups have created a survey tool to identify what benefits are actually covered in some of the potential state ... list, but rather a sampling of the most commonly used services across the 10 EHB categories HHS mandates. Also, we are not asking for any cost-sharing information such as co-insurance, co-pays and deductibles as those issues will be addressed through separate HHS regulations.   The ...

... years, Arizona is still falling short when it comes to preventing and reducing suffering and death from cancer. According to the latest edition of How Do You Measure Up?: A Progress Report on State Legislative Activity to Reduce Cancer Incidence and Mortality,  Arizona measured up to policy recommendations in just four of the 10 issue areas ranked. The report was released by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). Brian Hummell We’ve made tremendous progress in the way we diagnose and treat cancer. But to leverage this progress, Arizona legislators ...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—  Monday the Biden administration released its FY 2023 budget, which includes $5 billion for the forthcoming creation of the Advanced Research Project on Health (ARPA-H) but reduces funding by nearly $200 million for the National Cancer Institute (NCI); a scenario which may threaten to undermine the president’s recently relaunched Cancer Moonshot effort and his goal of ‘ending cancer as we know it.’ Congress increased funding for NCI and appropriated $1 billion to ARPA-H in the FY 22 omnibus earlier this ... are critically needed. A statement on the proposed budget from Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) follows: “The president’s budget, unfortunately, creates a scenario where ARPA-H is being created to the detriment of NCI and NIH more ...