U.S. Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) reintroduced the Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2015 on Wednesday, legislation that would prevent the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) from including services for cancer patients on Medicare in its sequestration cuts.
“I am excited to re-introduce this legislation today with my colleague Congressman (Steve) Israel (D-NY) in a bipartisan effort to protect millions of Medicare patients from the unintended consequences of sequestration,” Ellmers said. “Close to 350 cancer clinics have closed and over 450 practices have merged into large hospital systems, resulting in access issues and higher costs for seniors.”
Two years ago, HHS began applying sequestration by cutting payments for cancer care services and cancer drugs by 2 percent across the board. The cuts resulted in cancer centers nationwide reducing services, turning away Medicare patients and sending them to hospitals, which are more expensive.
Ellmer’s bill would prevent the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services from including chemotherapy drugs, and certain other physician-administered drugs for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoporosis in the 2 percent cuts.
“This issue hits home for me in more ways than one, as a large oncology practice in Dunn (North Carolina) closed just last year because of this very issue,” Ellmers said. “We cannot continue to put the health of cancer patients in jeopardy because of a misallocation in sequestration cuts.”
The legislation does not create any new costs. It simply redirects the targets of the sequestration. It is expected to save money over the long haul by keeping patients in community health centers and out of the more costly hospital setting.
The bill gained steam behind wide bipartisan support last year, picking up 123 co-sponsors. Ellmers said she hopes to see the measure pick up where it left off and move forward to passage in the 114th Congress.