PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa.,
June 27, 2019 /PRNewswire/
-- The National Comprehensive Cancer Network®
(NCCN®)—an alliance of 28 leading cancer centers devoted
to patient care, research, and education—convened a policy summit
at the National Press Club, today. The NCCN Policy Summit: The
State of Cancer Care in America: The Impact of State Policy on
Access to High Quality Cancer Care explored the role of federal
waivers, shifting regulatory authority, trends in cancer care
policy at the state level, and other ways that state policy is
having a growing impact on access to high-quality cancer care. The
summit included a keynote from the Deputy Majority Leader of the
Connecticut State Senate, Matthew
Lesser, a cancer survivor, who described his work on
state-level health reform legislation.
"Ongoing changes to the balance between federal and state power
over health care policy can have a significant impact on the way
people in America access health care, now and in the future," said
Robert W. Carlson, MD, Chief
Executive Officer, NCCN. "States have more flexibility than
ever before in how they structure their insurance markets, but
implementation is highly variable and it's not clear how cancer
patients fare in some of these novel approaches. We convened this
summit to explore some of the innovative concepts for improving
health care delivery, and also to highlight areas of difficulty
that could contribute to growing inequities."
The first panel focused on an overview discussion of the various
tools the federal government is allowing states to experiment with,
including waivers, CMS guidance, work requirements, premium
contributions, and block grants. Speakers also described specific
initiatives that are taking place within various states.
"The Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) is a consumer-driven alternative
to traditional Medicaid that has provided coverage to over 400,000
Hoosiers, including many cancer patients who might not otherwise
have access to health insurance," said John R. Edwards, MD, Indiana Blood and
Marrow Transplantation. "Many cancer patients are exempt from
certain innovative aspects, such as the Gateway to Work program
which provides and requires job training or other education,
community engagement or work opportunities to able-bodied
participants. Yet changes in coverage, reassignment, and delays in
authorizations and approvals remain logistically challenging and
are particularly impactful to our at-risk cancer patients.
Improving system wide efficiency for HIP patients and health care
providers remains a daunting challenge for complex, costly patient
care."
The second panel drilled down further into what is working well
for individual states, and where potential problem areas may arise.
Speakers were particularly concerned with how an individual's zip
code can impact the health services they have access to, and
whether the so-called "birth lottery" can result in widening
disparities between states.
"Massachusetts has been at the
forefront for ensuring broad coverage for its residents. In 2006,
Massachusetts passed a law that
served as the foundation for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that
passed 4 years later. 97% of state residents now have health
coverage," said Anne Levine,
M.Ed, MBA, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. "After achieving near
universal coverage, in 2012 the state passed another sweeping bill
that focused on affordability. The Massachusetts legislature has long-supported
public health and cancer control priorities and has passed bills on
oral chemotherapy parity, tobacco 21, and restrictions on tanning
salons. During the current legislative session, the state is
considering bills to require access to fertility treatments for
women with cancer, ban the sale of flavored tobacco products
including e-cigarettes, reform the insurer practice of Fail First
(also known as step therapy), and ensure access to cancer screening
without co-payments."
"Texas, and multiple other
states, have viewed the idea of expanding Medicaid under the ACA
through a budgetary lens," explained John Cox, DO, MBA, FACP, FASCO, Parkland
Health and Hospital System, UT Southwestern. "The greatest policy
issue that states control is the philosophical decision regarding
the role of state and local governments in ensuring access to care
to the residents of the respective states. The fear of budgetary
consequences has resulted in restricting access to routine and
specialty health care rather than expanding it."
Several panelists also noted the role health care providers and
their patients can play in advocating for policies that can affect
their lives.
"Provider, researcher, and physician involvement in advocacy
activities creates a catalyst for change, and it is important that
they know how the work they do every day can make an impact in the
legislative arena," said Jennifer
Carlson, OSU Wexner Medical Center. "Making sure our
policy makers and other community leaders understand how state
legislative and regulatory reform efforts impact access to quality
health care is crucial. By demonstrating the values of cutting-edge
research, ground-breaking initiatives, and exemplary patient care,
advocates can influence those reform efforts."
Efforts to keep health care affordable across the continuum of
care were addressed multiple times throughout the summit. Panelists
voiced concerns over narrow network health plans as well.
"Pricing and healthcare plan structures can make it difficult
for many of our patients to access cancer therapy," said
Shiven B. Patel, MD MBA,
FACP, Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of Utah. "Changes in policy that
ultimately improve the accessibility of cancer treatments for our
patients will make a dramatic difference in their outcomes."
The panels were moderated by Clifford
Goodman, PhD, The Lewin Group, and included the
following additional speakers:
- Joel Beetsch, PhD,
Celgene
- Keysha Brooks-Coley, MA,
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
- Bob Donnelly, MPP,
Johnson & Johnson
- Lee Jones, Patient
Advocate
- Nina Owcharenko Schaefer, The Heritage Foundation
- Ronald S. Walters, MD, MBA,
MHA, MS, The University of Texas MD
Anderson Cancer Center, Chair, NCCN Board of Directors
The next NCCN Policy Summit will take place on September 12, 2019. It will focus on various
stakeholder perspectives for defining, paying for, and ultimately
measuring quality cancer care.
Visit NCCN.org/policy to learn more, and join the conversation
online with the hashtag #NCCNPolicy.
About the National Comprehensive Cancer Network
The
National Comprehensive Cancer Network®
(NCCN®) is a not-for-profit alliance of 28 leading
cancer centers devoted to patient care, research, and education.
NCCN is dedicated to improving and facilitating quality, effective,
efficient, and accessible cancer care so patients can live better
lives. Through the leadership and expertise of clinical
professionals at NCCN Member Institutions, NCCN develops resources
that present valuable information to the numerous stakeholders in
the health care delivery system. By defining and advancing
high-quality cancer care, NCCN promotes the importance of
continuous quality improvement and recognizes the significance of
creating clinical practice guidelines appropriate for use by
patients, clinicians, and other health care decision-makers around
the world.
The NCCN Member Institutions are: Abramson Cancer Center at the
University of Pennsylvania,
Philadelphia, PA; Fred &
Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Omaha,
NE; Case Comprehensive Cancer Center/University Hospitals
Seidman Cancer Center and Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer
Institute, Cleveland, OH; City of
Hope National Medical Center, Duarte,
CA; Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center |
Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer
Center, Boston, MA; Duke Cancer
Institute, Durham, NC; Fox Chase
Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA;
Huntsman Cancer Institute at the University of
Utah, Salt Lake City, UT;
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center/Seattle Cancer Care
Alliance, Seattle, WA; The Sidney
Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns
Hopkins, Baltimore, MD;
Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; Mayo Clinic Cancer Center,
Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ, Jacksonville, FL, and Rochester, MN; Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer
Center, New York, NY; Moffitt
Cancer Center, Tampa, FL; The
Ohio State University Comprehensive
Cancer Center - James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research
Institute, Columbus, OH; O'Neal
Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB, Birmingham, AL; Roswell Park Comprehensive
Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY;
Siteman Cancer Center at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine,
St. Louis, MO; St. Jude Children's
Research Hospital/The University of
Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN; Stanford Cancer Institute,
Stanford, CA; UC San Diego Moores
Cancer Center, La Jolla, CA; UCSF
Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, San Francisco, CA; University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, CO; University of
Michigan Rogel Cancer Center, Ann
Arbor, MI; The University of
Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX; University
of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, WI; Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center,
Nashville, TN; and Yale Cancer
Center/Smilow Cancer Hospital, New Haven,
CT.
Clinicians, visit NCCN.org. Patients and caregivers, visit
NCCN.org/patients. Media, visit NCCN.org/news. Follow NCCN on
Twitter @NCCN, Facebook @NCCNorg, and Instagram @NCCNorg.
Media Contact:
Rachel
Darwin
267-622-6624
darwin@nccn.org
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SOURCE National Comprehensive Cancer Network