Access to Health Care

Access to Health Care

ACS CAN advocates for policies that provide access to treatments and services people with cancer need for their care - including those who may be newly diagnosed, in active treatment and cancer survivors.

Access to Health Care Resources:

Renewing Your Medicaid Coverage

May 8, 2023

Annual Medicaid Renewals are back. During the pandemic, Congress changed the rules to allow for continuous coverage protections for Medicaid enrollees. This helped people keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll during a tough and uncertain time in our country.

Medicaid Expansion & The End of Continuous Coverage in Wyoming

May 4, 2023

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

Medicaid Expansion & The End of Continuous Coverage in Wisconsin

May 4, 2023

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

Medicaid Expansion & The End of Continuous Coverage in Tennessee

May 3, 2023

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

Medicaid Expansion & The End of Continuous Coverage in South Carolina

May 3, 2023

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

Medicaid Expansion & The End of Continuous Coverage in North Carolina

May 3, 2023

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

Medicaid Expansion & The End of Continuous Coverage in Mississippi

May 3, 2023

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

Medicaid Expansion & The End of Continuous Coverage in Kansas

May 3, 2023

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

Medicaid Expansion & The End of Continuous Coverage in Florida

May 3, 2023

What does unwinding continuous coverage have to do with Medicaid expansion?

During the pandemic, Congress put in place continuous coverage protections to ensure that Medicaid enrollees were able to keep their health coverage without needing to re-enroll.

Prescription Drug Affordability Resources:

Formulary Transparency Helps Cancer Patients

October 6, 2017

For an individual with specific health care needs – like cancer patients and survivors – the drugs covered by a health plan and corresponding cost sharing for each drug is important information when choosing health insurance. However, to make an informed choice, formulary information must be disclosed to the individual.

Medicare Resources:

ACS CAN Multi-Cancer Early Detection Factsheet

April 1, 2023

Earlier screening for cancer is important because when detected at later stages, treatments are more limited, and outcomes are generally poorer. Medicare enrollees should have access to multi-cancer screening tests when the benefit is clinically shown.

Survivor Views: Open Enrollment

February 16, 2023

Cancer patients and survivors must balance reducing their health care costs with ensuring they have comprehensive coverage of services, treatments, and care providers.

The Medicare Appeals Process: Reforms Needed to Ensure Beneficiary Access

November 17, 2020

The incidence of cancer increases with age and thus the Medicare program is vitally important to millions of Americans who are undergoing active cancer treatment, are cancer survivors or who have not yet developed cancer.

ACS CAN Comments on CMS Proposed Radiation Oncology Demonstration Project

September 16, 2019

ACS CAN Comments to Seema Verma, Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

ACS CAN Comments on Medicare Part C and D Rule

January 25, 2019

ACS CAN submitted comments on the Medicare Part C and D Rule.

Costs and Barriers to Care Resources:

ACS CAN Comments re: Removing Medical Debt from Credit Reports

August 9, 2024

ACS CAN submitted comments to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau strongly supporting the proposal to prohibit medical debt from appearing on credit reports.

Comments to CMS re: Medical Debt Questions in Medicare Survey

June 24, 2024

Medical Debt and Cancer

May 9, 2024

Medical debt impacts many people with cancer, their caregivers and their families. This factsheet details this impact and explores policy solutions to prevent medical debt and minimize its impact on health, quality of life and financial health.

Survivor Views: Majority of Cancer Patients & Survivors Have or Expect to Have Medical Debt

May 9, 2024

Our latest survey finds that about half of cancer patients and survivors (49%) have incurred medical debt to pay for their cancer care and another 13% expect to incur medical debt as they begin or continue their treatment. Nearly all of those (98%) had health care coverage at the time they accumulated medical debt. This survey also explores the broad health and financial implications of medical debt, how medical debt deepens inequites, and the alarming rate of cancer related medical debt among younger respondents with early diagnoses.

Survivor Views: Preventive Care Coverage, Medical Debt, & Food Insecurity

February 14, 2024

Our latest survey finds that protecting no-cost screenings and preventive care and reducing the burden of medical debt are the most impotant priorities for cancer patients and survivors. This survey also explores the impacts of cancer on food and nutrition insecurity, with impacts felt across income groups and coverage levels.

Impacts of Medical Debt: Findings from a National Survey

October 30, 2023

ACS CAN partnered with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and RIP Medical Debt to conduct a national survey on the impacts of medical debt and high health care costs. Read the full results.

Trapped: America's Crippling Medical Debt Crisis

October 30, 2023

ACS CAN teamed up with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and RIP Medical Debt to conduct a national survey on the impacts of medical debt and high health care costs. Read a summary of the results.

Short-Term Limited Duration Health Plans Leave Cancer Patients Vulnerable to Extremely High Out-of-Pocket Costs

June 30, 2022

Short-term limited duration (STLD) insurance plans do not provide the kind of comprehensive insurance coverage cancer patients need. These plans were designed only as temporary coverage and are not subject to the same Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements as other health insurance products on the market. As a result, an enrollee who was attracted to the plan’s lower premiums may find – if they are diagnosed with a serious illness like cancer – that the plan does not cover all of their necessary cancer treatments. In these cases, the consumer can be left with catastrophic costs.

Out-of-Pocket Spending Limits Are Crucial for Cancer Patients & Survivors

January 4, 2022

Many patients with complex diseases like cancer find it difficult to afford their treatments – even when they have health insurance. Current law establishes a limit on what most private insurance plans can require enrollees to pay in out-of-pocket costs. These limits protect patients from extremely high costs and are essential to any health care system that works for cancer patients and survivors.

Medicaid Resources:

ACS CAN Comments re: Request for Information on Access to Coverage and Care in Medicaid & CHIP

April 18, 2022

ACS CAN submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regarding its 2022 Request for Information on Access to Coverage and Care in Medicaid & CHIP. Our comments address suggested improvements in Medicaid enrollment and eligibility determination, transitions of coverage, national standards for access to care, and the eventual end of the public health emergency and continuous coverage provisions.

ACS CAN Comments re: Oregon Medicaid 1115 Waiver Renewal

April 11, 2022

ACS CAN submitted comments in support of the renewal of Oregon's 1115 Medicaid waiver, including the state's proposal of continuous coverage provisions for children and adults. However, ACS CAN strongly objects to the state's proposal to limit Medicaid coverage of drugs approved through the accelerated approval process, and urges CMS to reject this part of the waiver request.

ACS CAN's comments re: Montana’s Medicaid Section 1115 Demonstration

October 15, 2021

ACS CAN Comments re: TN 1115 Medicaid Waiver

September 9, 2021

ACS CAN submitted comments opposing Tennessee's proposal to fund its Medicaid program through a block grant and implement a closed formulary.

Medicaid Section 1115 Research and Demonstration Waivers

January 10, 2020

An increasing number of states are seeking greater flexibility in administering their Medicaid programs. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) give states the opportunity to test innovative or alternative approaches to providing health care coverage to their Medicaid populations through Section 1115 Research and Demonstration Waivers (otherwise known as "1115 waivers"). States must demonstrate that their waivers promote the objectives of the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) and CMS must use general criteria to determine whether the objectives of the Medicaid/CHIP programs are met.

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