© 2023 HSP News Service, L.L.C.
Studies showed that racial minorities experience disparities in access to cancer treatment and survival. In an effort to improve access to care for disadvantaged populations, the Affordable Care Act provided funding to states to expand Medicaid eligibility criteria and provide coverage to...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Ji et al found that Medicaid expansion through the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has been associated with improved 2-year survival among young adults with cancer, with greater benefits observed in patients with breast cancer, those with stage IV...
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Christopher R. Manz, MD, MSHP, and colleagues found that oncologist participation in the Medicare Oncology Care Model (OCM) was not associated with a reduced likelihood of prescribing novel cancer therapies to their patients. As stated by the investigators, ...
Recent data showed that Medicaid expansion may be associated with increased use of palliative care among newly diagnosed individuals with stage IV cancer, although overall usage of palliative care was low. In addition, the increase after Medicaid expansion varied by cancer type, according to a...
Justin M. Barnes, MD, of the Washington University School of Medicine, discusses the ways in which Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act seems to affect distant diagnoses and cancer deaths per year, the differences in the impact of expansion between Black and White patients in the United States, and why insurance alone appears to be insufficient to overcome structural barriers to care for some populations.
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Childers et al found that only one-third of hospitals with National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer center status were fully compliant with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) price transparency requirements instituted in January 2021....
Update: On August 7, 2022, the Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), a broad climate, tax, and health-care reconciliation bill, with a vote of 51 to 50. During a review of the IRA, the Senate parliamentarian removed provisions from the bill that would have required drug companies to pay...
In a study reported in JAMA Network Open, Marks et al found that only two-thirds of a sample of U.S. Commission on Cancer–accredited cancer care facilities accepted Medicaid insurance for the treatment of four common cancers in a simulated cohort of adult patients with newly diagnosed disease....
On June 27, the Biden Administration, through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), announced a new model aimed at improving cancer care for Medicare patients and lowering health-care costs. CMS’ Center for Medicare and...
Researchers from the SWOG Cancer Research Network, a clinical trials group funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), found that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) expansion of Medicaid insurance in 2014 was followed by a significant increase in the proportion of patients enrolling in SWOG trials...
According to a recent report by The Commmonwealth Fund, “large racial and ethnic health inequities, driven by factors both inside and outside the health-care delivery system [in the United States], are common.” The result, according to the report, is that actions that could mitigate health...
New findings from a large national study led by researchers at the American Cancer Society (ACS) show cancer survivors in the United States who reported medical financial hardship had a higher mortality risk than cancer survivors without financial hardship. Medical financial hardship was measured...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Malinowski et al found that Medicaid expansion resulted in a reduction in the racial and ethnic disparities in mortality among patients with de novo stage IV breast cancer. As stated by the investigators, “Patients who are uninsured and belong to racial and...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Kana et al found that changes to Medicaid dental benefits in California from comprehensive to emergency services—and then back to comprehensive—were associated with reduced, then increased, percentages of cases of oral cavity cancer...
ASCO submitted comments in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2023 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters proposed rule. The rule includes proposed changes to standards for issuers and marketplaces and reinstates many...
Much progress has been made in the past 50 years since the signing of the National Cancer Act of 1971, which included the establishment of the President’s Cancer Panel. Nevertheless, there remain significant opportunities to make improvements across the cancer spectrum, perhaps none more pressing...
On February 10, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a national coverage determination that expands coverage for lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (CT) to improve health outcomes for people with lung cancer. This type of screening is aimed at early...
Leticia Nogueira, PhD, MPH, of the American Cancer Society, discusses results from a study designed to evaluate the impact of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In Medicaid-expansion states, mortality among patients after lung cancer surgery decreased from 2.4% before the ACA to 0.8% after the ACA, with no significant change in non–Medicaid-expansion states.
A study investigating the association between state Medicaid income eligibility limits and long-term survival among newly diagnosed patients with cancer has found that patients living in states with lower Medicaid income eligibility limits had worse long-term survival compared with patients living ...
In a study of National Cancer Database data reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Salazar et al found little difference in baseline cancer mortality rates between U.S. states that expanded Medicaid enrollment and nonexpansion states prior to expansion in 2009 and immediately following...
Canada’s publicly funded health-care system has a complex drug approval and funding process. Due to multiple assessment steps and bureaucratic processes, newly developed cancer drugs can often experience long delays before oncologists may use them to treat their patients with cancer. Several...
A change in presidential administrations has implications across the health sector, including for oncology. In this column, we review some recent actions by Congress and the Biden administration and their implications for the oncology community. We focus on three areas: funding for patients and...
Jingxuan Zhao, MPH, of the American Cancer Society, discusses study findings that showed worse long-term survival among low-income patients with cancer who live in states that have not expanded Medicaid eligibility (Abstract 6512).
A study investigating the association between state Medicaid income eligibility limits and long-term survival among newly diagnosed patients with cancer has found that patients living in states with lower Medicaid income eligibility limits had worse long-term survival compared with patients living...
In the United States, Black and Latinx individuals have higher cancer mortality rates than patients of other races. Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014, many states expanded Medicaid eligibility, promising significant gains in coverage for racial minorities. But it...
Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act was associated with significant increases in breast reconstruction among non-Hispanic Black women, achieving parity at times with non-Hispanic White women, according to a new study presented by Sharon Lum, MD, and colleagues at the American Society...
New recommendations to advance racial equity, ways to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care, and ongoing strategies for preventing and controlling human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers led the conversation at the National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®) 2021...
Medicaid expansion caused a decrease in uninsured patients and led to an earlier diagnosis of gastric cancer with an associated increase in 1-year survival, according to research presented by Zhu et al at the Society of Surgical Oncology 2021 International Conference on Surgical Cancer Care...
Egypt is a country of 1,010,408 km2 located on the northeast corner of Africa with a population exceeding 100 million. In 2018, there were about 134,632 new cancer cases and 89,042 cancer-related deaths in Egypt. Liver and breast cancers are the most common tumors in terms of incidence and...
Every year, significant amounts of drugs left over and unused from single-dose vials are discarded, but because of the way drugs are priced and paid for in the United States, the cost of the discarded amount cannot be recouped, according to a new congressionally mandated report from the National...
Even amid the COVID-19 pandemic, tobacco use remains a serious public health threat. In addition to tobacco-related death and disease, smoking also increases the risk of the most severe impacts of COVID-19. The American Lung Association has released its 19th annual “State of Tobacco Control”...
In states that have expanded Medicaid availability as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), mortality rates for three major types of cancer are significantly lower than in states that have not expanded Medicaid availability, according to a recent study by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer...
In a study reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Justin E. Bekelman, MD, and colleagues found that institution of a national insurer’s pay-for-performance program resulted in a higher rate of prescriptions for evidence-based oncology drug regimens but did not reduce overall health-care...
The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) has released the 10th edition of its annual Cancer Progress Report. The report highlights how cancer research, largely supported by federal investments in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Ziakas et al found that Medicare Part D spending on oncology drugs increased markedly between 2013 and 2017, with spending increasing at a rate markedly greater than that attributed to all other medical care providers. Study Details Medicare Part D...
As evidenced at this year’s ASCO20 Virtual Scientific Program, oncology science, technology, and clinical practice are evolving at a rapid pace, bringing new challenges to the efficient and ethical practice of cancer care at all levels. To shed light on some of the large-scale public health and...
In a study reported in JAMA Surgery, Le Blanc et al found that Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act was associated with increased insurance coverage and reduction in rates of diagnosis of breast cancer at later stages. Study Details The study involved data from the National Cancer...
Blase N. Polite, MD, MPP, of the University of Chicago Medical Center, discusses his belief that, in the next few years, we can bend the cancer drug cost curve and tame health-care costs if physicians, pharmaceutical companies, payers, and government come together and agree on the value of treatments that improve survival and quality of life.
New research published by Douglas et al in JNCCN—Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network examined coverage trends for circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) testing, also known as liquid biopsy. In the first-ever study to analyze insurance coverage for ctDNA-based panel tests, researchers found ...
It was ambitious and it was controversial, but the bipartisan 21st Century Cures Act (Cures) made it through both houses of Congress and was signed into law in December 2016. Sponsored by Representatives Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Fred Upton (R-MI), the landmark legislation funded new medical...
“As a medical student, I often felt marginalized from my medical community. I have been told that my name is ‘not American,’ fallen prey to being confused for support staff such as a janitor (even while wearing my white coat), and been asked questions like, ‘Where are you really from?’ or ‘How old...
In 2018, researchers from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute launched a large, ambitious screening study called PROMISE (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03689595). The objectives of the study were to identify people with premalignant precursor conditions of multiple myeloma, understand the molecular...
In a study reported in JCO Oncology Practice, Emily H. Castellanos, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that the requirement for Medicare Oncology Care Model (OCM) practices to report biomarker testing of patients with advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) has not substantially altered the...
States that adopted Medicaid expansion after passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010 saw a decline in cancer mortality rates by 29% compared with 25% in states that did not expand access to Medicaid, according to a study by Anna Lee, MD, MPH, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New...
Advanced-stage cancer diagnoses declined following health insurance expansion in Massachusetts, likely due to increased access to screening and diagnostic services that identified cancers earlier, according to new research published by Sabik et al in the journal Medical Care. The analysis...
On January 27, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) took action to cover U.S. Food and Drug Administration–approved or –cleared laboratory diagnostic tests using next-generation sequencing (NGS) for patients with germline ovarian or breast cancer. Over the last several years, CMS ...
In a study reported in JAMA Oncology, Trevor Royce, MS, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that publicly available information on pricing for radiation treatment for prostate cancer was complex and inconsistent, and that pricing varied widely among National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer...
In a study reported in a research letter in JAMA Oncology, Emily Stamell Ruiz, MD, MPH, and colleagues found that rising drug costs and use accounted for 56% and 44%, respectively, of increased Medicare Part D spending on oral anticancer drugs between 2013 and 2017. Study Details The analysis...
Recent studies show that at least one-quarter of our nation’s health-care expenditures are being consumed by waste, fraud, and abuse. Moreover, since 2004, annual reports from the Commonwealth Fund have consistently rated the performance of our health-care system last among high-income countries,...
Health insurers, employers, and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have shifted a growing share of the costs for specialty prescription medicines to their patients and beneficiaries. Since insurer cost-sharing requirements for prescription medications can be uniquely burdensome compared to other...