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
6-2-11 Affordable Care Act Update
June 7, 2011
Federal Update
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced several important changes to the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP) this week. Among the 23 states (and DC) covered by the federally run PCIP, 18 will have lower premiums beginning July 1 (the new rates have been posted on healthcare.gov). Reductions are as much as 40 percent in several states. These changes are a result of redeterminations of what the "standard rate" is in each state. HHS is communicating the changes to states that operate their own PCIPs and encouraging them to make similar adjustments.
HHS also announced a simplified process for determining PCIP eligibility. Until now, applicants had to show evidence that they had been rejected for coverage or had received a premium quote that was unaffordable before they could be enrolled in PCIP. Beginning July 1, 2011, an applicant will instead be able to use a letter from their physician stating that they had a pre-existing condition in the past 12 months. This change could speed up the enrollment process for many applicants. HHS will step up its outreach efforts to increase enrollment further. The federal and state programs have been operating for nearly a year now and have identified some best practices that are being shared among all the states.
State Update
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed the state’s health insurance exchange legislation into law on Wednesday. Colorado joined five other states that have enacted legislation (California, Maryland, West Virginia, Washington and Vermont). Bills passed in Hawaii and Illinois and are awaiting the governors’ signatures. The governors of Georgia, Indiana and Mississippi signed Executive Orders to establish state exchanges, bypassing the legislative process. Several other states are expected to pass exchange establishment legislation in the next few weeks. Watch a new Kaiser Health News reporter roundtable on state activity and read a Politico story on Republican governors and implementation.
Litigation
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments yesterday on a challenge to the Affordable Care Act, but the three judge panel hearing the case must first rule on the motion to dismiss that the Obama administration filed last week. The Administration filed the brief because one of the plaintiffs recently purchased health insurance through an employer and can no longer claim injury from the individual mandate to purchase insurance. Read The New York Times story and see the Kaiser Health News
“scoreboard” on legal challenges to the Affordable Care Act.
Reports and Polling
Costs Highest for Cancer Patients who are Individually Insured
One out of every seven cancer patients spends more than 20 percent of his or her income on treatment and insurance, according to a recent study published in The Journal of Clinical Oncology. Among these patients, those who are privately insured have the most out-of-pocket costs for their health care. The study shows cancer patients have significantly higher financial burdens than not only people without cancer, but those with other chronic disease –- who spend four percent and almost 10 percent of their income on health care and insurance respectively. Read the Reuters article.
New Poll: Majority of Americans Don’t Like the House Medicare Proposal
Most Americans, 58 percent, do not approve of the proposal to reform Medicare included in the FY2012 House Budget Resolution, according to a national CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey. The proposal would overhaul the traditional Medicare program, and would provide seniors with subsidies that they would use to purchase private health insurance coverage. Opposition is highest among seniors, 74 percent, and spans across party lines, with 50 percent of Republicans in opposition.
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)