WASHINGTON, DC -- October 13, 2009 -- “The Senate Finance Committee’s approval today of health care legislation brings Congress one step closer to enacting meaningful reform that will benefit families affected by cancer and other life-threatening chronic diseases. Congress continues to show its determination to pass health care reform this year, as the House and Senate prepare for floor debate on the issue.
“The Finance Committee bill takes important steps to remove cost barriers to care by ending arbitrary annual and lifetime caps on benefits, reducing or eliminating co-pays for preventive services including mammograms and colonoscopies, and limiting premium rating based on health status and age.
“However, ACS CAN remains concerned that middle-income families could be forced to pay more than 25 percent of their annual income on premiums and out-of-pocket costs in the event that a family member is diagnosed with cancer or another serious illness. ACS CAN will continue to advocate for additional improvements to the affordability provisions as the bills move to floor votes in the coming weeks.
“Congress must put patients before politics and ultimately pass a bill that guarantees coverage for all Americans that is adequate and does not force them to choose between saving their life or their lifesavings.”
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 https://www.fightcancer.org/.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Alissa Havens
Phone: (202) 661-5772
Email: [email protected]
Steve Weiss
Phone: (202) 661-5711
Email: [email protected]