With the end of the election season, the IMF is moving forward with its work to ensure that key provisions of health reform that provide high quality of care for cancer patients are maintained. In doing so, we will continue to educate legislators at the state and federal level about the needs of cancer patients, and, working with our coalition of cancer organizations, we will continue to provide input in Washington as they determine policies and regulations.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), myeloma patients can currently benefit from these important provisions, which:

• Prevent insurers from denying coverage for patients with pre-existing conditions
• Establish a temporary high-risk pool to serve people who have lacked coverage for a six-month period or longer
• Provide grants to states to assist consumers with health insurance complaints, appeals and inquiries
• Help employers maintain plans for early retirees
• Provide tax credits for small businesses with up to 25 full-time employees to help pay premiums
• Allow parents to keep dependent children on health insurance plan up to age 26
• Prevent health plans from imposing annual and lifetime spending caps on coverage
• Eliminate cost sharing for long list of preventive services

Additionally, the insurance exchanges will continue to be implemented over the next one-to-two years.  The IMF has and will continue to work hard to ensure that the needs of all cancer patients are considered by the state lawmakers who are responsible for the xhealth exchanges and that the plan design does not lean too heavily on maximizing flexibility at the expense of ensuring access to comprehensive and quality cancer care.

The IMF Advocacy Team will continue to provide information and education regarding the implementation of health reform and what to expect moving forward. If you are not already signed up to receive our Advocacy Updates, please sign up here.