ACS CAN advocates for policies that provide access to treatments and services people with cancer need for their care - including those who may be newly diagnosed, in active treatment and cancer survivors.
Cancer patients and survivors must balance reducing their health care costs with ensuring they have comprehensive coverage of services, treatments, and care providers.
On June 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, eliminating the constitutional right to abortion and overruling the precedents of Roe and Casey. State actions on access to abortion services could have significant impact on cancer patients.
This Survivor Views survey finds that cancer patients and survivors continue to face pandemic-related health care delays one year later, including disruptions to screenings and difficulties accessing care.
Telehealth visits that enable providers to deliver clinical services from a distance using options like video conferencing and remote monitoring can provide cancer patients and survivors with a convenient means of accessing both cancer care and primary care.
Cancer patients are particularly vulnerable to spikes in their health care costs because many expensive diagnostic tests and treatments are scheduled within a short period of time, so cancer patients spend their deductible and out-of-pocket maximum quickly. These costs can be difficult to manage over the course of a year, and most monthly budgets simply can’t afford these large bills.
Most patients experience spikes in their health care costs around the time of a cancer diagnosis as they pay their deductible and out-of-pocket maximum. For patients on high deductible plans, this spike can mean bills due for several thousands of dollars within one month.
The U.S. spent approximately $183 billion on cancer-related health care in 2015. This represents a signification portion of the total health care spending in the U.S. And it is expected to keep growing. By 2030 cancer-related health care spending is expected to reach nearly $246 billion.
The upheaval to the U.S. economy caused by the pandemic has resulted in many Americans losing their jobs and their employer-provided health insurance. Mid-year coverage disruptions are costly because cancer patients like Franklin who have already met their deductible and maximums near the beginning of the year must pay another deductible and reach their new maximum out-of-pocket amount when they start their new insurance plan.
Approximately 1.7 million new cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2018.Age is one of the most important risk factors for cancer, with one half of cancer cases occurring in people over the age of 65.
ACS CAN filed extensive comments expressing deep concern with the proposed Medicare Part B Drug Payment Model and noting that in its proposed form the Part B Drug Model Model failed to protect cancer patients' access to life-saving medications.
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.
An increasing number of states are seeking greater flexibility in administering their Medicaid programs. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) give states the opportunity to test innovative or alternative approaches to providing health care coverage to their Medicaid populations through Section 1115 Research and Demonstration Waivers (otherwise known as "1115 waivers"). States must demonstrate that their waivers promote the objectives of the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) and CMS must use general criteria to determine whether the objectives of the Medicaid/CHIP programs are met.
