Access to Health Insurance

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As Congress considers changes to the Affordable Care Act, it is critically important that lawmakers maintain the patient protections that are so important to cancer patients and survivors, and ensure insurance coverage is truly affordable.  

We can never go back to the day when cancer patients couldn’t get health insurance coverage because they exceeded a lifetime limit or are denied coverage just because they survived cancer.  And, we must ensure they don’t experience any gap in their health insurance coverage and that their policies are truly affordable.

A study conducted by the American Cancer Society showed that people who are uninsured or underinsured are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at its more advanced stages when treatment is more expensive and patients are more likely to die from the disease.

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Medicaid is under attack.

Nearly 80 million people in America rely on Medicaid for their health coverage, including millions of cancer patients. Sign the petition today urging Congress to oppose cuts to this lifesaving program.

Latest Updates

February 6, 2025
Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis . – Just one month into the legislative session, patients from across Wisconsin, as well as the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) and the American Lung Association– two of Wisconsin’s leading patient advocacy organizations – are urging Wisconsin lawmakers to advance legislation that would extend

January 31, 2025
Georgia

ATLANTA – Around 50 cancer advocates, including patients, survivors and caregivers, will travel to the Capitol from around the state on Tuesday, February 4, to have breakfast with lawmakers and ask them to support a Georgia PeachCare Plus plan to expand Medicaid. We are excited to see a Georgia-specific solution

January 29, 2025
South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. – In a recent letter , Gov. Henry McMaster asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to approve a request that would allow parents making between 67% and 100% of the federal poverty level to access Medicaid if they prove they are working or in

January 29, 2025
Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – More than 300 congregations across Alabama have been invited to take part in a Call to Prayer this weekend ahead of the kickoff to the state’s legislative session. The event highlights the need for improved health care access for the 220,000 hardworking Alabamians living in the coverage

Access to Health Insurance 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.

 

 

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