State Update
Minnesota Creates Exchange
Capping a legislative journey that included 19 committee hearings and four floor debates, the Minnesota legislature on Monday passed legislation creating a state health insurance exchange, or marketplace. Governor Mark Dayton signed the bill at a ceremony Wednesday morning. The law authorizes the development of a seven-member board of directors, with a strong provision that prevents any individual or an immediate member of their family who has had a conflict of interest during the last year from serving on the board.
ACS CAN volunteers and government relations staff played an active role in the development of Minnesota's exchange. Specifically, volunteers and staff served on work groups formed by the Minnesota Health Insurance Exchange Advisory Task Force, registered formal comments, and lobbied task force members to support parameters set out in ACS CAN's exchange guidelines. ACS CAN has also been the leader of a state coalition of patient service organizations who met with legislators, testified before key committees, and spoken at press conferences in support of a health insurance exchange that will help consumers make better decisions when purchasing health coverage while also giving the exchange the authority to ensure that it only offers quality products. Countless hours were spent trying to pass the best exchange in the country and the people of Minnesota will be well served into the future because of it.
Expanding Access to Medicaid
A total of 27 governors, eight of them Republicans, have now declared their intention to make health coverage under Medicaid available to individuals and families up to 133 percent of federal poverty level as urged by the ACA. (The provision is voluntary for states due to last year's Supreme Court ruling.) These governors recognize that federal funds have already been authorized and that it makes good health and economic sense to provide more people with access to lifesaving cancer prevention, early detection and treatment options through Medicaid.
Society research has shown that health outcomes for cancer are hugely dependent upon insurance coverage and access to care. For this reason, ACS CAN is calling our volunteers to action to urge governors and legislatures to increase access to Medicaid. (Governors can only state their intent to accept the funding, but state legislatures must approve of the move as part of the budgeting process.) ACS CAN's polling and template materials, including letters to the editor, op-eds, press releases and action alerts, have been shared to support engagement of policy makers, volunteers and the public on this critical issue. Please continue to utilize these materials, and let us know if you have any questions.
For more on the debate over increasing access to Medicaid in the states, read the attached articles from Politico.
FL House Speaker - No Medicaid Expansion.docx Politico Pro_Texas looks again at Medicaid expansion_3.19.13.docx
100 Million Americans Receive Free Preventive Care under ACA
The ACA Act provided more than 100 million people with no-cost preventive care in 2011 and 2012, according to federal health officials. The Department of Health and Human Services report released Monday shows that 34 million Medicare beneficiaries took advantage of the law's preventive offerings over the last two years. The ACA mandates that most health plans cover preventive services such as standard immunizations and disease screenings at no cost to patients. ACS CAN supports provisions of the ACA like this that make cancer prevention and early detection services more accessible to more individuals.
As always, thank you for all you do every day to support laws and policies that help cancer patients and their families.
Chris Hansen | President
ACS Cancer Action Network | American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, Inc.