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7-15-10 Affordable Care Act Update
July 15, 2010
Below is this week’s update on the Affordable Care Act. As always, thank you for all you do every day to support laws and policies that help cancer patients and their families.
Department of Health and Human Services Releases Rules on Prevention Benefits
Yesterday the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released interim final rules for the prevention benefits included in the Affordable Care Act.
The regulations require new group health plans and insurance companies that offer group or individual health insurance coverage provide beneficiaries with certain preventive benefits at no cost starting September 23, 2010. Preventive services with a rating of "A" or "B" in the current recommendations of the United States Preventive Services Task Force, including cancer prevention tools such as mammograms, colonoscopies, tobacco cessation counseling and the HPV vaccine, must be offered at no cost. The rules will encourage millions of people to protect their health by taking advantage of lifesaving preventive measures. Read ACS CAN’s press release and a New York Times story about the rules.
ACS CAN will submit comments on the rules within the 60-day public comment period.
ACS CAN Volunteer Goes to Washington to Emphasize Prevention Provisions in Affordable Care Act
Yesterday’s announcement of the rules for prevention benefits took place at an event at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC featuring First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden (wife of Vice President Joe Biden) and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Also in attendance was ACS CAN volunteer Kathi Hansen from Wrightstown, Wisconsin. Hansen, the ACS CAN State Lead Ambassador in her state, is a seven-year breast cancer survivor whose cancer was detected early, thanks to a routine mammogram.
After being diagnosed, Kathi underwent a double mastectomy and eight rounds of chemotherapy. She was able to see doctors in-network and thus her treatment was covered with limited cost-sharing. She has been cancer-free ever since. She credits early detection with saving her life. The First Lady, Dr. Biden, and Secretary Sebelius each emphasized the fact that more lives will be saved when barriers to prevention, such as co-pays that deter many people from getting life-saving cancer screenings, are removed for all Americans.
Christopher W. Hansen
President
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN)