Share

Access to Health Care

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.

Access to Health Care Resources:

Our latest Survivor Views survey sees increases in biomarker testing since the question was last asked three years ago along with reduced cost and coverage barriers in that time. Cancer patients and survivors describe the benefits and overwhelmingly agree biomarker testing gave their providers information that improved their treatment. 

ACS CAN and partner organizations provided comments on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program: Considerations for Selected Oncology Drugs.

ACS CAN strongly advocated for inclusion in the Inflation Reduction Act of both an annual cap on total Part D out-of-pocket costs and a mechanism that would allow an enrollee the option to pay the required cost-sharing in capped monthly installments because we know from research that hig

ACS and ACS CAN provided comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on the list of Part D drugs selected for the price negotiation program authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

The American Cancer Society (ACS) and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) along with partners appreciate the opportunity to comment on the Patient Navigation provisions of CY2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

Access to care for those who are uninsured not only ensures that serious diseases like cancer can be detected and treated earlier but also often means better patient outcomes and less costs to the individual and the larger health care system.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) provided the following statement for the record at the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee Hearing on Legislative Solutions to Bolster Preparedness and Response for all Hazards and Public Health Security Threats on June 13, 2023.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) provided the following statement for the record at the House Energy & Commerce Oversight Hearing on Examining the Root Causes of Drug Shortages: Challenges in Pharmaceutical Drug Supply Chains on May 11, 2023.

Our latest survey finds that cancer patients and survivors would be less likely to stay current with preventive care, including recommended cancer screenings, if the provision requiring these services be covered at no cost were repealed. This survey also explores the challenges of limited provider networks and the need for patient navigation.

Costs and Barriers to Care Resources:

The health care law has several provisions that help prevent individuals from experiencing gaps in health insurance coverage, including the requirement that private health insurance plans allow dependents to remain on their parents’ insurance until age 26.  This provision is important for keeping survivors of childhood and young adult cancer insured, and helps to ensure young adults receive preventive services and screenings.  This provision is a crucial patient protection that must be a part of a health care system that works for cancer patients and survivors.

Consumers need access to health insurance policies that cover a full range of evidence-based health care services – including prevention and primary care – necessary to maintain health, avoid disease, overcome acute illness and live with chronic disease.  Any health care system that works for cancer patients must have standards ensuring that enrollees have access to comprehensive health insurance.

Current federal requirements prohibit most insurance plans from limiting both the lifetime and annual dollar value of benefits.  This ban is one of several important patient protections that must be part of any health care system that works for cancer patients.

 

 

ACS CAN comments on 2015 Edition EHR Standards and Certification Criteria Proposed Rule

  •  

Medicaid Resources:

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

  • During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

  • During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

  • During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

  • During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

  • During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

  • During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

  • During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

  • During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

  • During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.