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COA Supports Bipartisan Bill to Prevent Medicare Sequestration Cuts in Oncology
"It's so ironic that CMMI, the innovation arm of CMS, is trying to sell us on implementing a new payment model for oncology while community oncology practices are struggling financially to keep their doors open because of CMS payment cuts," said Ted Okon, executive director, Community Oncology Alliance.
Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2015
Renee Ellmers
Steve Israel
The Community Oncology Alliance, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to preserving access to community cancer care, announced its vigorous support of the (H.R. 1416), a bipartisan bill introduced by Representatives (R-NC2) and (D-NY3). The bill stops the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from inappropriately applying the Medicare sequester cut to the underlying payment for cancer drugs and other Part B therapies.
The State of Cancer Care in America
Many members of Congress have expressed concerns about the detrimental effect of CMS' ill-advised cut to the payment for cancer drugs, and this is now being documented by closings of cancer clinics, consolidation into the more expensive hospital setting, and patient access problems, especially in rural areas. According to the annual report just released this week by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, , "For the more than 59 million Americans living in rural areas, a diagnosis of cancer can present unique challenges to obtaining high-quality care for their disease, including long travel distances and decreased access to specialists, and state-of-the-art diagnostics, treatments and technologies."
Read the complete press release by COA:
