Washington, D.C. – Today, as Americans across the country recognize National Cancer Survivors Day, the Trump Administration and Washington Republicans continue to threaten crucial pre-existing condition protections that allow millions of survivors to access coverage and care. Protect Our Care Campaign Director Brad Woodhouse released the following the statement:
“On National Cancer Survivors Day, we recognize the millions of American cancer survivors and support those currently battling this disease. We all have a friend, family member, co-worker, or neighbor who has faced cancer, and we all want to make sure they have the regular doctor visits necessary to defeat cancer or keep it in remission.
“But Washington Republicans continue to push policies that will make life harder, not easier, for those battling cancer. Just this week, Republican Senators started pushing yet another bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act, with a proposal that allows states to waive protections for people with pre-existing conditions like cancer and paves the way for re-implementation of lifetime limits on coverage. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration is trying to let insurance companies sell short-term junk plans that can refuse to enroll people with a history of cancer and pick and choose which services to cover, including even basic care like hospitalization and prescription drugs.
“Today, as we celebrate the courageous Americans in our lives who have faced cancer, let us also reaffirm our commitment to a health care system that works for them, not against them.”
BACKGROUND
Since taking office, President Trump has unveiled two budgets with massive cuts to the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health; hosted a White House celebration for a GOP bill the American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network said contained ‘numerous provisions [which] would adversely impact access to adequate and affordable health insurance coverage for cancer patients and survivors’; and signed legislation repealing the individual mandate, which ACS-CAN explained ‘leaves cancer patients, survivors and all those with serious illnesses at risk of being priced out of the individual health insurance market.’ On Friday, the Community Alliance of Oncologists filed a lawsuit against the Trump White House Office of Management and Budget and HHS to stop the Administration’s proposed Medicare drug reimbursement cuts, noting that Trump’s recent prescription drug proposal would harm cancer patients.