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Senators Urged to Defend Critical New Patient Protections by Voting Against Affordable Care Act Repeal
February 1, 2011
WASHINGTON, D.C. – February 1, 2011 – The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is encouraging people with cancer and others impacted by the disease to call on lawmakers to vote against a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which includes important patient protections that are providing families with greater access to quality, affordable care. The U.S. Senate could vote on a proposal to repeal the law as early as Wednesday.
“Repeal of the law without a meaningful alternative that includes critical patient protections would mean a return to a system that denied lifesaving care to people with cancer and their families,” said John R. Seffrin, chief executive officer of ACS CAN, the advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society. “The evidence is clear that lack of access to meaningful health care is linked to later stage cancer diagnoses, which are more expensive to treat and harder to survive.”
Several patient protections included in the Affordable Care Act improve the health care system for cancer patients and their families by
• Banning pre-existing condition exclusions,
• Eliminating annual and lifetime benefit limits,
• Guaranteeing health coverage to all applicants,
• Prohibiting insurers from charging people more for coverage because of their health status, and
• Refocusing the health care system on disease prevention and early detection.
“Many cancer patients, survivors and their families are already benefitting from the law and can’t afford to have critical patient protections taken away,” said Christopher W. Hansen, president of ACS CAN. “We call on lawmakers to implement and strengthen these provisions that are expanding access to quality health care for families affected by cancer, so they aren’t ever again forced to make the difficult choice between saving their life and their life savings.”
According to a national nonpartisan poll conducted last year by ACS CAN, before provisions of the law began to take effect, more than a third of cancer patients and survivors under age 65 reported problems with insurance coverage of cancer treatment such as the plan not paying for care or less than expected, reaching the limit of what the plan would pay, or delaying or skipping treatment because of insurance issues. For a summary of the polling results, visit www.fightcancer.org/cancerpoll.
ACS CAN, the leading voice of patients in the health care debate, is working to ensure that critical patient provisions included in the Affordable Care Act are implemented as strongly as possible for cancer patients, survivors and caregivers. For more information, visit https://www.fightcancer.org/healthcare.
ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Alissa Havens or Steven Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Phone: (202) 661-5772 or (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
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