Press Room

HURST, Texas – State Sen.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today that they will not approve Massachusetts’ request to restrict Medicaid prescription drug coverage to as few as one drug per class—a practice commonly called a “closed formulary”—unless a state foregoes all manufacturer rebates.

The Department of Labor issued final rules governing the creation of association health plans. Under the rule, AHPs would be exempt from current benefit and cost-sharing requirements. 

Patient groups representing millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions filed an amicus curiae or friend of the court brief in the U.S. District Court case, Texas v. United States, citing the devastating impact patients would face should the court side with plaintiffs and move to invalidate the Affordable Care Act. 

Today, the North Carolina Senate voted to approve legislation that poses a serious risk for the more than 1.6 million North Carolinians with pre-existing health conditions, including cancer. We urge the House to reject this legislation and instead come together to find real solutions to our state’s health care challenges.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced last night it will not defend several critical patient protections in the health law and instead is arguing to end them. If successful, the case could leave millions of Americans with serious illnesses unable to obtain health care coverage.

Today Virginia governor Ralph Northam signed into law a state budget that extends health care coverage to an estimated 400,000 low-income Virginians through the Medicaid program. Virginia is now the 33^rd state, in addition to Washington, D.C., to accept federal funding to provide health insurance coverage to adults earning less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level—just under $17,000 a year for a single adult. As part of the expansion, Virginia will require Medicaid recipients attend school, work, partake in job training or engage in some kind of community engagement for upwards of 80 hours a month in order to receive benefits. This requirement could pose significant challenges to cancer patients and survivors.

More than 100 organizations representing millions of patients, providers and consumers joined together in letters and formal comments to Congressional leadership and federal agencies urging the withdrawal of a proposed rule on short-term, limited duration insurance plans (STLD).

oday the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) submitted comments to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on proposed changes to rules governing short-term, limited duration insurance plans (STLD). The comments detail how the proposed rule could divide the individual insurance market and significantly weaken patient protections, leaving cancer patients and survivors with few meaningful or affordable coverage choices.

Twenty organizations representing millions of patients and consumers across the country sent a letter to the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury urging the administration to address patient concerns before finalizing troubling rules that as currently drafted would undermine access to affordable, comprehensive health coverage.