ACS CAN brought together some of the nation's leading health care experts in Washington, D.C. for a groundbreaking event to examine how to ensure that people with cancer and other life-threatening chronic diseases receive quality health care.
ACS CAN's first-ever National Forum on the Future of Health Care, held at the National Press Club in downtown Washington, convened top officials from federal and state government, the health care industry, non-profit organizations, academia, and the media to take a detailed look at provisions of the Affordable Care Act that require all health plans to offer patients a minimum standard of benefits beginning in 2014. The essential health benefits have the potential to give patients the security of knowing that their health plan will cover proven methods to prevent cancer and the treatments and follow-up care needed to battle the disease. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released guidance to states in December on defining essential benefits. But HHS also said it would eventually issue a formal regulation that could provide more information. Many questions need to be answered before an essential benefits package goes into effect, such as what health care services will be included, how essential benefits could improve care while containing costs, what role states have in defining essential benefits for their citizens, and how to ensure that all patients nationwide access basic care and innovations that are helping to save lives. These issues and many others were discussed during a day-long conference featuring leading health care experts including:
ACS CAN strongly supported the essential benefits requirement in the Affordable Care Act to ensure that cancer patients and survivors have access to lifesaving care. This discussion will inform ACS CAN and the public on how to ensure the success of the essential benefits package for patients nationwide. Resources: