Letter: Bill supports biomarker testing
This letter originally ran in the Lincoln Journal Star.
News
Health Insurance Marketplaces Now Open For Enrollment, Cancer Patients and Survivors Can Shop For Coverage
October 1, 2013
ItÈs the moment for which cancer patients and survivors have been waiting.
Starting on Oct. 1, patients and survivors will be able to enroll in state health insurance marketplaces (also known as exchanges), which will let them shop for insurance from competing health insurance companies.
The marketplace will let consumers comparison shop for the best health insurance plan for themselves and their families.
And, because people can no longer be denied health insurance or charged more because of a pre-existing condition, all patients and survivors who arenÈt offered health insurance through their jobs, who are self-employed or who are unemployed will finally have an option to buy insurance.
This is the chance for people who may not have had a chance to buy health insurance since their cancer diagnosis to purchase affordable insurance. That means coverage for their treatment and maintenance that would have otherwise been out-of-pocket a cost that before these marketplaces too often meant individuals were forced to choose between saving their life and their lifesavings.
The plans sold in the marketplaces will have to offer essential benefits to prevent, treat and survive a life-threatening disease such as cancer, and patients with low and moderate incomes may be eligible for financial help to afford the cost of the plans.
All cancer patients and survivors need to do to enroll is visit the Health Care Marketplace, find their state and fill out an application to see their plan choices.
Open enrollment for the health insurance marketplaces will run from Oct. 1 through March 31, 2014, but people who want coverage to start at the beginning of the new year should enroll as soon as possible.
Learn more about how the health care law benefits cancer patients and cancer survivors by reading our consumer guide, The Health Care Law: How It Can Help People With Cancer And Their Families.