This week, I was invited to speak about the realities of Massachusetts's health care reform at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network's National Forum on the Future of Health Care in Washington, DC. Because our reform serves as the model for the Affordable Care Act, and because our experience is so often misrepresented in the public discourse, I welcomed the opportunity.
Yesterday was an incredible day at ACS CAN we held our first-ever National Forum on the Future of Health Care and it was a huge success! The conference focused on how to ensure that people living with cancer and other chronic diseases have access to quality health care.
As the second anniversary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) approaches, we decided it was a good time to check in with the call center specialists at the American Cancer Society's National Cancer Information Center (NCIC) to ask them how one aspect of the law the new Pre-existing Condition Insurance Programs (PCIPs) is impacting people with cancer.
Yesterday's health policy news out of Washington is something to celebrate! The administration released its final rule late yesterday morning on an important provision in the Affordable Care Act, known as the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) provision.
The phrase an ounce of prevention saves lives and money means a lot to me and my family. My wife and I are diligent about talking with our doctors and ensuring we are getting the necessary cancer screenings. All Americans deserve access to these lifesaving tests and other cancer prevention measures, but a public health fund designed to do just that is in jeopardy.
Today, when consumers pick a health coverage plan they are given a long document filled with complicated jargon that is virtually impossible for them to understand. An important provision in the Affordable Care Act, known as the Summary of Benefits and Coverage provision, was written to change that.
The Supreme Court announced today that it would consider the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act sometime next spring. The announcement follows four federal appeals court rulings on the Affordable Care Act, resulting in split decisions regarding the individual responsibility provision of the law, otherwise known as the "Individual Mandate".
Today at 2pm eastern time, our own Erin Reidy, ACS CAN's associate director of policy, will answer your questions about Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIPs). These plans, which are in effect in states across the country, provide adults who have been uninsured for at least 6 months because they were denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition with access to quality, affordable health care. I invite you to join or follow along with the chat here.