Dear Catherine,
Congress is currently working to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and eventually replace the law. The American Health Care Act was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on March 6, 2017.
The American Health Care Act includes provisions to eliminate the mandate that all individuals have health insurance coverage, eventually repeal the Medicaid expansion, and eliminate subsidies that currently help people to afford insurance coverage and pay out-of-pocket costs. These provisions could be replaced with health savings accounts, state innovation grants, and refundable tax credits.
CSC is concerned about the burden some of these proposed changes could place on individuals living with cancer and people who have historically been underserved by the health care system. We do not want to see costs shifted to consumers, particularly among cancer patients and others living with chronic diseases who often need expensive treatments and services. We do not want health care access to become limited because programs like Medicaid become more restrictive. We are concerned that optional health savings accounts may exclude individuals who cannot afford to contribute funds to them to cover the cost of health care.
The U.S. House of Representatives has introduced the American Health Care Act to replace the ACA. We encourage you to contact your Representative today asking them to protect the patient-centered provisions that were put into place by the ACA.
Learn more about the proposed provisions by clicking here and read CSC's Health Care Principles for Individuals Impacted by Cancer by clicking here.
The U.S. House of Representatives will be moving on to repeal and replace the ACA as early as this week. We encourage you to contact your Representative today asking them to protect the patient-centered provisions of the ACA.
Sincerely,
Elizabeth Franklin & Kristen Cox Santiago
Senior Directors, Policy & Advocacy
Cancer Support Community
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