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On May 4, 2017, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed the American Health Care Act (AHCA), a bill that would repeal and replace key portions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The bill now heads to the Senate, where it faces significant concerns over the projected decrease in coverage and increase in cost, and will likely undergo a substantial re-write.
While the bill faces uncertainty, the Association of Cancer Care Centers (ACCC) remains very concerned about the impact the AHCA, as currently written, would have on cancer patients’ ability to access comprehensive, affordable health insurance coverage. The bill violates a number of ACCC’s health reform principles, which were central to our recent advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill.
Previous Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports estimate that 24 million more Americans will be left without coverage under the AHCA, while disproportionately increasing out-of-pocket costs for elderly, low-income Americans in the individual and non-group markets. Recent amendments to the bill also weaken protections for patients with pre-existing conditions, like cancer, and the requirement that insurers cover defined Essential Health Benefits, such as cancer screenings. The current legislation also effectively rolls back the Medicaid expansion and proposes to fundamentally restructure the Medicaid program, inevitably shifting costs to the states and squeezing Medicaid benefits for low-income cancer patients across the country.
ACCC will continue to work with Congress to advocate for meaningful health reform policies that protect patient access to appropriate, affordable health insurance coverage and decrease costs for the patient and the healthcare system.
ACCC urges its membership to contact their Senators opposing the bill as currently written.