Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) has just introduced legislation that would reverse the sequester cuts that have led some cancer clinics to turn away Medicare patients. Medicare has already said it doesn’t have the authority on its own to reverse the automatic reductions, which federal law specifies must hit all programs equally. That essentially leaves it… Read more »
Posts Tagged: cancer
Will the sequester’s cancer cuts get fixed?
Medicare said Thursday that it does not have the power to reverse automatic spending cuts that are causing cancer clinics to turn away thousands of patients. “We are unaware of any authority that could exempt Part B drugs from the sequestration requirements,” Medicare spokesman Brian Cook said. The sequester is a series of across-the-board budget… Read more »
WonkTalk: The sequester’s impact on cancer patients
Ezra Klein and Sarah Kliff discuss why cancer clinics are turning away thousands of Medicare patients. Source: Ezra Klein
Cancer patients on Medicare denied care at clinics because of sequester
The sequester was not supposed to directly effect Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. In terms of benefits, that’s pretty much true, but there’s one very cruel exception: cancer treatments. The treatments are covered under Part B of Medicare instead of other drugs which are in Part D. That’s because physicians have to administer them directly, and… Read more »