Healey Signs Bill to Address Breast Cancer Screening Inequities
Legislation will eliminate costly barriers to follow up breast cancer screening
Allison Miller
Director, Media Advocacy
Washington
ACS CAN Expert Testifies About Need to Preserve Critical Pre-Existing Condition Protections in Health Care Law
January 29, 2019
Washington, D.C.—January 29, 2019—Preserving critical protections for cancer patients, survivors and all those with pre-existing medical conditions will be the focus of a House Ways and Means Committee hearing Tuesday. Committee members will hear testimony from Keysha Brooks-Coley, vice president for federal advocacy at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), along with that of other health policy experts and patients.
Brooks-Coley will share with the committee how the patient protections included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have improved cancer patients and survivors’ ability to access comprehensive health care and how recent regulatory changes, including the expansion of short-term plans, threaten to erode those protections.
“Expansion of these short-term plans does not help consumers, it puts them at increased risk,” says Brooks-Coley. “Unfortunately, there is a real possibility that many people – attracted by lower premiums – could find themselves with seriously inadequate coverage and greater out-of-pocket costs under these short-term plans. And with younger, healthier consumers being siphoned off, the insurance market will be destabilized leaving those who need comprehensive coverage with plans that are expensive or out of reach. We urge Congress to enact legislation to limit or prohibit the availability of these products.”
Read Brooks-Coley’s full testimony to the committee.
About ACS CAN
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is making cancer a top priority for public officials and candidates at the federal, state and local levels. ACS CAN empowers advocates across the country to make their voices heard and influence evidence-based public policy change as well as legislative and regulatory solutions that will reduce the cancer burden. As the American Cancer Society’s nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate, ACS CAN is critical to the fight for a world without cancer. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.
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