When the Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on June 28, ASCO released a statement by ASCO President Sandra M. Swain, MD, Medical Director of the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
Critically Important Provisions
In the statement, Dr. Swain highlighted some of the provisions contained in the Affordable Care Act “that are critically important to the treatment and screening of cancer, and will help eliminate disparities in patients with cancer.” These provisions, most of which have enjoyed significant bipartisan support, include:
Protections for patient access to preventive screening for cancer. The Affordable Care Act includes safeguards to provide coverage of preventive screenings for cancer without charging copayments or coinsurance to individuals. This applies to private health-care insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid. Promoting access to preventive screenings is an important step that will save lives and improve the quality of care through earlier diagnosis and better outcomes.
“As the ongoing policy debate unfolds, ASCO will continue to work with policy makers to protect and retain these core patient safeguards that are critical to individuals who have cancer or who are at risk for cancer,” Dr. Swain said. ■
© 2012. American Society of Clinical Oncology. All rights reserved.