Public Policy Resources

ACS CAN filed comments supporting the Internal Revenue Services' proposed clarification requiring plans to provide coverage for physician services and inpatient hospitalization in order to qualify as minimum value coverage. 

ACS CAN filed comments on the Medicare CY2016 Physician Fee Schedule, supporting CMS' proposals to establish a separate payment for collaborative care services and provide reimbursement for advanced care planning services.

ACS CAN provided comments on the proposed rule implementing changes to the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) and the Uniform Glossary in which we urged the Tri-Agencies to include a high-cost coverage example (specifically a breast cancer example) in the SBC, to require the inclusion of premium information on the first page of the SBC, and to eliminate the current coverage calculator and require plans to use actual plan data when providing coverage examples.

ACS CAN provided comments on CMS' Draft 2016 Letter to Issuers in the Federally-facilitated Marketplaces, including comments related to network adequacy, provider directories, nondiscrimination provisions, and other issues.

ACS CAN filed comments on the 2016 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters proposed rule, including comments related to Special Enrollment Periods, prescription drug benefits, nondiscrimination, cost-sharing requirements, network adequacy standards, and other issues.

As the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) updated its Managed care Plan Network Adequacy Model Act (Network Adequacy Model Act), ACS CAN filed comments urging the NAIC to adopt policies that would ensure that health plan networks are sufficient to provide enrollees with access to a sufficient number and type of providers (including oncology services) to meet the needs of the enrollees.

For persons living with cancer, access to specialty practitioners is paramount. Millions of Americans are now choosing health coverage through the new insurance Marketplaces and these enrollees need to be able to easily determine whether specific physicians are in a plan’s network.

This analysis examines two issues of particular interest to the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) and its members: the extent of coverage and cost-sharing for cancer drugs, and whether information on the coverage of cancer drugs can be readily obtained, compared, and understood by patients.

Utilization management is a collection of treatment review and cost reduction techniques used by health insurers and health plans. Health plans frequently employ utilization management techniques in their prescription drug benefit, particularly for high-cost specialty medications.