WASHINGTON, D.C. -- March 19, 2012 -- Two years after the Affordable Care Act went into effect, people with cancer or at risk for developing the disease are benefitting from key provisions of the law that are improving access to lifesaving health care. The anniversary of the passage of the law this Friday comes days before the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of some provisions of the law, including the requirement that most Americans purchase health insurance coverage.
Thanks to strong patient protections in the law, many cancer patients and survivors now have access to quality, affordable care that was previously out of reach, said John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of ACS CAN. The evidence is clear that the uninsured are more likely than those with health coverage to be diagnosed with cancer at advanced stages and are less likely to survive the disease. Without strong protections, patients with chronic diseases like cancer could be denied lifesaving care.
The American Cancer Society and its advocacy affiliate, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), together with the American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association, jointly filed an amicus brief with the Supreme Court arguing that the individual responsibility provision of the law is critical to sustaining patient protections such as those that:
äó¢ Ban pre-existing condition exclusions that are used to deny lifesaving coverage to people with cancer,
äó¢ Eliminate annual and lifetime benefit limits that can cut off access to critical cancer care,
äó¢ Enable children with a history of chronic disease such as cancer to stay on their parents' health plan until age 26
äó¢ Prohibit insurers from charging people more for coverage because they have a condition such as cancer,
äó¢ Refocus the health care system on disease prevention and early detection, and
äó¢ Require insurers to provide consumers with brief, easy-to-understand information about their plan.
ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, has been working at the federal and state level to ensure that provisions of the law that help cancer patients are protected and implemented effectively. If implemented correctly, consumers should be guaranteed a minimum standard of benefits regardless of where they live through the Essential Health Benefits Package, and have access to state exchanges where they can shop for affordable, adequate coverage options and select among plans that cannot discriminate based on one's health history.
Critical provisions in the Affordable Care Act have the potential to give cancer patients and their loved ones the security of knowing that their health plan will cover proven methods to prevent and treat cancer as well as to provide necessary follow-up care, said Christopher W. Hansen, president of ACS CAN. Provisions that are expanding access to quality health care should be strongly implemented so families affected by cancer are never again faced with barriers to adequate, affordable, lifesaving care.
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. 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 https://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
E-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]
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