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A recent study published by Hooda et al in The Annals of Thoracic Surgery suggests that Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act has significantly improved access to timely treatment and high-volume hospitals for patients with early-stage non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). These findings...
A high proportion of Medicare beneficiaries cross state borders to access cancer care, particularly patients residing in rural areas, according to a recent study published by Moen et al in JAMA Network Open. The findings have significant implications for telehealth policies and physician licensure, ...
Catharine Young, PhD, has spent the past decade of her career focused on cancer policy and advocacy. A native of Johannesburg, South Africa, Dr. Young served as Senior Director of Science Policy at the Biden Cancer Initiative, which began in 2017 by then former Vice President Joe Biden. There she...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a proposed rule that, if finalized, would make cigarettes and certain other combusted tobacco products minimally or nonaddictive by limiting the level of nicotine in those products. If the rule is finalized, the United States would be the first...
Two weeks after the 2024 election, the Presidency and 119th Congress are coming into focus, with nearly all races called. Republican Donald Trump was elected President, and Republicans regained control of the U.S. Senate (53–47) and maintained control in the House of Representatives (218–212 at...
A recent nationwide survey has confirmed that prior authorization may cause treatment delays, abandoned treatments, hospitalizations, and deaths among patients with cancer, according to an executive summary published by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO). The findings may reinforce ...
At the 2024 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, Rebecca D. Kehm, PhD, of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, and colleagues presented some of the ...
Patients with newly diagnosed hormone receptor–negative, HER2-positive breast cancer were more likely to receive timely, guideline-concordant treatment and experience longer survival in states participating in Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, according to a recent study published...
Investigators have uncovered that during the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) first decade, the survival rates of Dependent Coverage Expansion–eligible young adult patients with cancer may have improved, according to a recent study published by Roth et al in Cancer. The federal...
The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) has always prided itself on its commitment to evidence-based, expert consensus–driven recommendations for cancer care, with a special focus on breaking down the barriers that contribute to disparities in outcomes across all patients with cancer. With ...
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has increased guideline-concordant care for colorectal cancer among non-White patients, those from rural areas, and those from the most deprived neighborhoods in Pennsylvania, according to new findings presented by Kudaravalli et al at the 2024 American Association for ...
The Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has serious concerns about the impact of the Supreme Court’s rulings in Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v Department of Commerce on cancer care. These decisions overturned the “Chevron deference” or “Chevron doctrine,” a legal...
The remarkable progress in medical research—primarily supported by federal investments in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI)—over the past 3 decades, coupled with advances in cancer prevention and early detection, has led to a 33% reduction in cancer...
Investigators may have uncovered the impact of the 2014 and 2015 Medicaid expansion on cancer clinical trial participation, according to a recent study published by Unger et al in JAMA Oncology. The new findings suggested that Medicaid expansion under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act...
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...