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
4-21-11 Affordable Care Act Update
April 22, 2011
FY 2012 House Budget Resolution and White House Debt Reduction Plan
Last week, the House passed its FY2012 Budget Resolution, and the White House released its plan for reducing the national debt. The House budget resolution calls for $6 trillion in cuts over 10 years and repeals the Affordable Care Act by denying the funds needed to implement the law, such as subsidies for middle-class Americans to purchase insurance in state exchanges and elimination of the Prevention and Public Health Fund.
Both the budget resolution and White House plan would seek to reduce Medicare and Medicaid spending. The House plan would transform Medicaid into a block grant program and Medicare into a voucher system whereby seniors would receive a fixed subsidy to purchase health insurance in the private market. The President’s proposal would reduce Medicaid expenditures by standardizing the federal match and other program changes, and it would reduce Medicare expenditures by expanding the power of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which was established under the Affordable Care Act to reduce Medicare payments and services if they exceed certain targets.
We recognize the importance of reducing the national debt and the need to address rapidly rising entitlement costs. However, we will advocate for policies that achieve expenditure reductions without sacrificing the medical security of cancer patients and survivors and others with serious medical conditions.
Read the ACS CAN talking points on entitlement reform proposals, and the April 15, 2011 ACS CAN press release on the House FY2012 Budget Resolution.
Dr. Seffrin Sworn In As Member of Prevention Advisory Group
John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the Society and ACS CAN, was sworn in last week as a member of the federal Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health. The advisory group was created by the Affordable Care Act to advise the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council, which is made up of several cabinet secretaries and other federal officials and is drafting a national prevention plan that will amplify and integrate prevention efforts at the federal, state, and local levels. Advisory group members, who were appointed by the White House and are led by Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, also held their first meeting last week, where members considered a preliminary framework of the prevention plan.
Read more information about the Advisory Group: http://www.healthcare.gov/center/councils/nphpphc/index.html
State Update
Washington State is now poised to be the next state to enact legislation that establishes a health insurance exchange to begin operation in January 2014. The governor is expected to sign the bill, which has passed the state's House and Senate, adding Washington to the list that now includes California, Maryland and West Virginia as states that have passed health exchange legislation. With many states wrapping up their sessions in the next six weeks, it is likely that we will soon see several more states joining the list.
Grassroots Update
With Congress in recess, volunteers have been scheduling in-district meetings. In addition to talking about protecting funding for lifesaving cancer research, they will also be asking lawmakers to protect Medicare and Medicaid, and to oppose legislative proposals that would cut benefits and potentially increase costs for patients. Thousands of cancer patients rely on the health benefits they receive from the Medicare and Medicaid program.
Poll: Americans oppose cuts and changes to Medicare and Medicaid
Despite a tough economic climate, Americans strongly disapprove of cutting spending on Medicare and Medicaid as a way to eliminate the debt, according to a Washington Post-ABC poll released this week. In fact, 78 percent of Americans oppose cuts to Medicare and 69 percent disapprove of cuts to Medicaid. The poll found nearly three-quarters (72 percent) of Americans support raising taxes to manage the debt problem.
There is also widespread disapproval of making changes to the Medicare program. Only 34 percent of Americans think Medicare should be changed from a defined-benefit health insurance program to one where recipients select from a group of plans providing guaranteed coverage as outlined in the House budget proposal.
As always, thank you for all you do every day to support laws and policies that help cancer patients and their families.
Christopher W. Hansen
President
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN)