CANCER LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
April 23, 2013
CANCER LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
STATEMENT ON SEQUESTRATION AND CANCER CARE
REIMBURSEMENT
More than half of all cancer diagnoses in the United
States occur among Medicare beneficiaries, and reliable access to
outstanding cancer care depends on a smoothly functioning Medicare
payment system. The Cancer Leadership Council, a
coalition of cancer patients, physicians, and researchers, supports
a Medicare payment system that rewards the delivery of quality care
and operates without disruption.
The Cancer Leadership Council supports the efforts of a bipartisan
group of Members of Congress to obtain information from the Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) about the impact of the
sequestration cut on patient access to care and to ascertain the
flexibility of CMS in implementation of sequestration.
Cancer Leadership Council organizations have mobilized their patient
services programs, information networks, and outreach programs to
detect possible barriers to care for cancer patients and also to
provide assistance to any patients who may experience difficulties
in obtaining the care they need.
The sequester has also directed attention to the weaknesses and
inappropriate incentives in Medicare reimbursement for cancer
care. The Cancer Leadership Council urges Congress, even as it
considers the impact of sequestration and solutions to any
disruptions in care, to consider these core principles for Medicare
cancer care payment reform:
- Medicare reimbursement should support: 1) physician-patient
communication for treatment planning, 2) coordination of symptom
management and active treatment, 3) delivery of evidence-based
cancer care, and 4) the transition from treatment to
survivorship monitoring and follow-up care.
- Physician services for quality cancer care should be supported
by direct reimbursement and not through margins on drugs.
- Current systems for acquisition and payment of cancer drugs,
including average sales price-based reimbursement in Medicare
Part B and the 340B drug discounting system, should be evaluated
for their significant impact on cancer patients, including the
quality of care they receive and the site at which they receive
care, and for their effects on the overall cancer care delivery
system.
Reform of the Medicare cancer care payment system is an urgent
matter for current beneficiaries and for baby-boomers soon to join
their ranks and must focus on creation of a system of
patient-centered care that is appropriately reimbursed.
CANCER LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Bladder Cancer Advocacy Network
Cancer Support Community
Fight Colorectal Cancer
International Myeloma Foundation
LIVESTRONG Foundation
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Lymphoma Research Foundation
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship
National Lung Cancer Partnership
Ovarian Cancer National Alliance
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Prevent Cancer Foundation
Sarcoma Foundation of America
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Advocacy Alliance
Us TOO International Prostate Cancer Education and Support Network