Groups Update Cancer Insurance Checklist to Help Patients Navigate ACA Health Exchanges

With open enrollment now underway to sign up for or change their coverage under the Affordable Care Act, oncology nurses and navigators may be hearing questions from cancer patients, survivors, and their family members about navigating this still relatively new insurance marketplace.

The Cancer Support Community (CSC), along with 18 partnering cancer and patient advocacy organizations, has launched an updated version of the Cancer Insurance Checklist, a resource for people with cancer, a history of cancer, or a risk of cancer to help them evaluate their insurance options.

The Cancer Insurance Checklist guides consumers in reviewing the coverage within each insurance plan they are considering, including coverage for providers, specialists and hospitals, medications, and various common cancer treatments and services they may need. The checklist also provides a worksheet to help the consumer detail the costs associated with each plan. It is designed to be used while evaluating insurance plans and also when discussing them with a navigator or healthcare provider.

Since its launch last fall, the CSC said that the checklist has reached thousands of people impacted by cancer shopping for insurance on the marketplaces. It is available in print and online as a pdf download, in English (www.CancerInsuranceChecklist.org) and in Spanish (http://www.cancerinsurancechecklist.org/es/).

“We want to make sure that people impacted by cancer fully understand the coverage for cancer-related health services under each plan they are considering,” said Kim Thiboldeaux, President and CEO of CSC.

The open enrollment period for 2015 coverage continues until February 15, 2015.