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... 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 ...

2/3/11 Below is this week’s update on the Affordable Care Act. As always, thank you for all you do every day to support laws and policies that help cancer patients and their families   Update on ... Act   As I informed you on Monday, a federal judge in Florida ruled that the requirement in the Affordable Care Act that all Americans purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. Two federal judges have upheld the so-called “individual responsibility” or “individual mandate” ... that enables the implementation of critical provisions of the law to continue across the country. Read or listen to the audio of Kaiser Health News’ Q&A with legal expert Stuart Taylor on the ruling.   Despite the absence of an injunction, some state officials have said the law ...

2/3/11 Below is this week’s update on the Affordable Care Act. As always, thank you for all you do every day to support laws and policies that help cancer patients and their families   Update on ... Act   As I informed you on Monday, a federal judge in Florida ruled that the requirement in the Affordable Care Act that all Americans purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. Two federal judges have upheld the so-called “individual responsibility” or “individual mandate” ... that enables the implementation of critical provisions of the law to continue across the country. Read or listen to the audio of Kaiser Health News’ Q&A with legal expert Stuart Taylor on the ruling.   Despite the absence of an injunction, some state officials have said the law ...

... CAN filed comments this week with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the proposed Medicare regulation creating Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). ACOs, which were mandated in the Affordable Care Act (ACA), are groups of providers that receive bonus payments for ... more integrated and coordinated care for Medicare beneficiaries. ACS CAN’s comments acknowledge the potential of ACOs to improve the health and quality of care of cancer patients, and encourage the administration to improve the regulation to better benefit families affected by ... of palliative care services as an integral component of ACOs and other proposed models. The comments also recommend that the Department of Health and Human Services more carefully consider several patient-specific issues in the regulation, such as:       Enhancing patient ...