Empowering patient voices through voter registration
While roughly 83% of adults in the United States will visit a health care provider in the next year, an estimated
News
11-30-12 Affordable Care Act Update
December 3, 2012
Federal Update
Fiscal Cliff
Congress returned to Washington, D.C. this week to start the lame duck session which is focused on the looming "fiscal cliff" -- the expiration of tax cuts on December 31 and deep across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to take effect January 2, known as sequestration. ACS CAN is actively monitoring the discussions, and will be weighing in through the cancer lens. It is imperative for Congressional leadership, as well as individual members of Congress directly involved in the budget negotiations, to prioritize investments in cancer research, prevention, and early detection programs; funding to implement the Affordable Care Act (ACA); and protecting lifesaving programs such as Medicare and Medicaid that serve people with cancer and their families nationwide.
Multiple Draft ACA Regulations Released
The administration released a series of long-awaited ACA regulations Nov. 20. Of greatest importance to cancer patients and their families are proposed regulations on essential health benefits, state insurance market reforms, and wellness programs. A brief summary of the regulations are attached. The ACS CAN Policy Team is analyzing the proposals and will provide a fuller description during the webinar scheduled for December 12 at 3 p.m. EST. It is important to note that these are proposals, not final regulations, and the policies outlined in them are subject to change in the final rule. Because the administration needs to finalize the regulations soon, they have only provided short comment periods, with comments due by December 26 for the EHB and insurance market reform proposals, while the wellness regulation comment period closes in late January.
Summary of Draft Regulations.docx
State Update
At a meeting of a subgroup of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) this week, officials from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services said states planning a "partnership exchange" with the federal government, as well as states allowing the government to operate a federal exchange, can begin sending information for Qualified Health Plan (QHP) certification on March 28 through the end of April next year. The certification process is scheduled to then run from May through July 31, 2013. The July 31deadline is critical in order to allow enough time for other details, such as cost sharing and premium subsidies, to be resolved, so that the scheduled October 1, 2013 start of the open enrollment period can proceed as planned. CMS staff also indicated that guidance on a "general approach" regarding how states should coordinate with the federally facilitated exchange will be out soon, and that final rules from HHS will be released prior to March 28.
Enrollment
ACS CAN's work to raise public awareness about key provisions in the Affordable Care Act is continuing and we anticipate the pace of activity will accelerate as we move closer to full implementation. Current efforts include ongoing participation in the Health Care and You coalition and distribution of the Society's consumer friendly guide to how the Affordable Care Act helps cancer patients and their families. ACS CAN is also represented on the advisory board of Enroll America, a nonprofit dedicated to educating uninsured Americans about the law and helping them to enroll in a health plan as the exchanges go live. The group enjoys support from a diverse group of private companies, patient and consumer advocates, professional associations, and faith based groups. Articles on their work recently appeared in CQ HealthBeat and The Washington Post.
Medicaid Report
A Kaiser Family Foundation report released Tuesday shows that states with relatively large uninsured populations are likely to see increases in state costs should they offer Medicaid coverage more broadly to uninsured adults as called for in the ACA. The increases, however, are expected to be small relative to decreases in the uninsured population and increases in federal matching funds. Meanwhile, States that offered broader Medicaid coverage prior to the ACA may see savings mainly due to the higher federal matching rates.
The analysis further indicates that if all states took advantage of the ACA's Medicaid provision state spending would increase less than three percent, while federal Medicaid spending would increase by 26 percent. As a result, an additional 21.3 million people would gain health coverage by 2022. Taken together with other coverage provisions of the ACA, the number of uninsured individuals could be cut by 48 percent.
The report also points out that Medicaid enrollment and spending is expected to rise even in states that do not expand coverage because of other ACA provisions, such as the requirement to simplify enrollment and health exchange implementation, that could increase Medicaid enrollment among people who are currently eligible but not yet enrolled in the program.
ACS CAN believes hard-working, low-income families need the security of quality health coverage. The money that has already been set aside for states to cover more uninsured people would increase access to lifesaving cancer prevention and early detection measures, treatment, and follow up care. ACS CAN's work to educate state policy makers on the health and economic benefits of expanded coverage are ongoing.
As always, thank you for all you do every day to support laws and policies that help cancer patients and their families.
Chris Hansen | President
ACS Cancer Action Network | American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc.