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
11-3-11 Affordable Care Act Update
November 8, 2011
Federal Update
Exchange Comments
ACS CAN filed comments on October 24 with the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the proposed rule on the development of marketplaces for insurance plans sold to individuals and small businesses under the Affordable Care Act - known as health insurance exchanges. The comments encourage the administration to:
- Clarify and strengthen the rule to benefit patients and consumers, such as by defining parameters for a federally-run health exchange as well as scenarios that would constitute a federal-state exchange partnership that would guarantee consumers seamless access to meaningful health care;
- Prohibit members with conflicts of interest from sitting on exchange governing boards; and,
- Provide consumers with the most comprehensible information to make enrollment as user-friendly as possible.
Health Benefits Information Comments
ACS CAN filed comments with HHS, the Department of Labor, and the Internal Revenue Service on the proposed rule that defines the standard information that must be available to consumers to explain which health benefits are offered in each plan. This is required under the Affordable Care Act. The comments build on an already strong rule in an effort to increase the availability of information that will help consumers make the best decision about coverage for themselves and their families through the inclusion of consumer-tested language, availability of plan materials in multiple languages and commitment to improve the standard document over time to best accommodate the information needs of existing and perspective plan holders.
New Health Disparities Standards Announced
HHS announced it has finalized new standards to improve the monitoring of health data by race, ethnicity, sex, primary language, and disability status. The standards for collection and reporting are intended to help federal agencies refine population health surveys so that researchers can better understand health disparities and implement effective strategies for eliminating them.
State Update
As mentioned in last week's update, HHS resumes its series of "listening tours" this month. This time, the topic is the Essential Health Benefits provision in the Affordable Care Act. The first stop of the listening tour is scheduled for Friday, November 4 in Chicago and the last will be in San Francisco on November 21. The tour also stops in Boston, Philadelphia, Dallas, New York City, Kansas City, Atlanta, Seattle and Denver. The format is similar to the listening tours held in September on the proposed health insurance exchange regulations that were released during the summer. Formal testimony is not allowed, but general comments are permitted. ACS CAN is providing ACS CAN and/or Division advocacy staff planning to attend with relevant background materials.
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)