WASHINGTON, D.C. April 11, 2013 Access to meaningful, affordable health care will not only improve health outcomes, but provide cancer patients and survivors peace of mind, testified Stacy Cook, Iowa volunteer for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions today. At the hearing, which focused on progress in implementation of key patient protections in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and important provisions that will take effect in 2014, Cook testified that her fight against cancer was made more difficult by the crippling out-of-pocket costs and tremendous stress of not knowing if she would be able to afford her surgery and chemotherapy treatments. She said prohibiting discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and requiring plans to provide a minimum standard of coverage will prevent other families affected by cancer from having her experience being forced to choose between their life and their lifesavings. It got to where I could not afford my rent or pretty much anything else, so I made the decision to move back home, Cook said. At 36, I was moving back in with my parents. I felt like a failure but had no other option. Cook had been living in Arizona when she was diagnosed with a second occurrence of breast cancer in March 2012. Her bare-bones health plan the only plan she could afford through her employer would not cover chemotherapy or the surgery she needed, and only allowed for five doctor visits per year. She was forced to pay in advance for her treatment. When money ran out, she moved home to live with family in Iowa, continuing treatment that sent her $40,000 into debt and forcing her to consider declaring bankruptcy. For too long, cancer patients, survivors and their loved ones have faced insurmountable barriers to care because of their health status, said Christopher Hansen, president of ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society. The promise of full implementation of critical patient protections in 2014 will mean that cancer patients can focus their energy on fighting their disease rather than fighting for meaningful coverage. Beginning next year, patient protections in the ACA prohibit discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and end the practice of charging consumers more for health coverage based on health status or gender. Consumers are currently benefitting from key patient protections of the law such as those that:
- Eliminate annual and lifetime benefit limits that can cut off access to critical cancer care,
- Enable children with a history of chronic disease such as cancer to stay on their parents ' health plan until age 26,
- Refocus the health care system on disease prevention and early detection through the creation of the Prevention and Public Health Fund,
- Require insurers to provide consumers with brief, easy-to-understand information about their plan, and
- Provide rebates to seniors who hit the coverage gap or doughnut hole in Medicare 's prescription drug program.
Since the passage of the law, ACS CAN and the American Cancer Society have been educating the public about those provisions that directly benefit cancer patients and their families.æ As part of this effort, the Society developed a consumer-friendly brochure: The Affordable Care Act: How it Helps People With Cancer and Their Families. The guide outlines how the new patient protections improve the quality and cost of health care for people with cancer and those at risk for cancer. It also clarifies some of the misunderstandings that still exist about the law. In addition, the guide highlights three real-world stories of people who exemplify how the law is meaningfully improving the health care system. The guide is posted on both the Society 's and ACS CAN 's Web sites. Visit www.fightcancer.org/healthcare to access it. ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: Alissa Crispino or Steven Weiss American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network Phone: (202) 661-5772 or (202) 661-5711 Email:æ[email protected]æoræ[email protected] #HELP #ACA #insurance #healthcare #cancer #breastcancer
