Health Policies
Health Policies
OVERVIEW
The ACA became law in March 2010. It is a comprehensive health care law, sometimes known as Obamacare, which instituted a federal health insurance marketplace with subsidized health insurance rates, expanded the Medicaid program, and provides financial incentives and supports for innovative medical care delivery methods. The ACA requires insurance plans to provide coverage for pre-existing health conditions, makes it illegal for insurance companies to increase rates based on illness and injury, and ended lifetime and yearly limits to health care coverage.
RELEVANCE TO LUNG CANCER PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS
The American Lung Association notes four benefits to lung cancer patients afforded by the ACA:
Insurance companies are prohibited from revoking coverage when a patient gets sick with a condition such as lung cancer.
All new private insurance plans and marketplace plans must cover treatments that help smokers quit, cover lung cancer screening for people at high risk for lung cancer and cover recommended vaccines without cost-sharing.
The Medicare prescription drug "doughnut hole" began to close in 2011—meaning Medicare will no longer stop paying for medications after patients spend a certain dollar amount per year. Previously, people with serious lung diseases such as COPD and lung cancer had significant out-of-pocket expenses because of this gap in coverage.
Insurance companies, selling plans on the marketplace, no longer are allowed to limit the amount of money they will spend on a patient during his or her lifetime. Patients with serious diseases such as lung cancer sometimes met these previous limits and were denied further coverage for that condition.
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OVERVIEW
HITECH was implemented in 2009 with the goals of improving quality and efficiency in the US healthcare system, engaging patients in care, improving coordination of care and the overall health of the population, and ensuring privacy and security, particularly of personal health information (PHI). The HITECH Act provided incentives to health care organizations and providers who adopted Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and implemented them in meaningful ways.
RELEVANCE TO LUNG CANCER PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS
Improvements to coordination of care and the involvement of patients in healthcare decisions are important initiatives in lung cancer treatment and advocacy. The proper use of EHR is central to managing chronic illness and impacts the safety and timeliness of care. This act influenced the adoption of EHR systems and their implementation, and the quality of information shared between providers, providers and patients, and varying institutions is critical for lung cancer treatment.
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OVERVIEW
The Lung Cancer Screening Registry and Quality Improvement Act was introduced in 2021, but has not yet been passed into law. This bill would result in funding for FY 2022-2026 to assist health providers in establishing lung cancer screening registries and, importantly, improving the quality measures for screenings. This bill includes requirements for interoperability, meaning that screening results would be more easily shared between providers and patients.
RELEVANCE TO LUNG CANCER PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS
This act is important for current patients and those living in environments with high risk for lung disease as it promotes improved screening and care management.
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