WASHINGTON, DC - November 20, 2012 - "The proposed regulation provides important details on the minimum level of health coverage required for new individual and small-group plans offered across the country.
"We recognize the need for some flexibility as state policy makers, consumers and insurers adjust to the concept of essential health benefits. However, this flexibility should not become a reason to allow for benefit restrictions and limitations on people with certain medical conditions like cancer. We hope the country will move toward a uniform definition of coverage in the next few years that provides patients with an evidence-based continuum of care, regardless of their geographic location.
"Access to meaningful, affordable care is critical to ensure that individuals can prevent or detect cancer at its earliest stages when it is less expensive to treat and easier to survive. ACS CAN plans to file formal comments on the proposal, working to ensure the strongest possible implementation of the regulation for patients and families affected by cancer."
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 www.fightcancer.org.
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Alissa Crispino or Steven Weiss
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
202-661-5772 or 202-661-5711
[email protected] or [email protected]
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