President Biden Invites Covered California and Health Leaders from Across the Nation to the White House to Celebrate the Affordable Care Act’s Anniversary
CVV News l March 23, 2023
WASHINGTON, DC — President Joe Biden invited Covered California’s Executive Director Jessica Altman and other health leaders from across the country to the White House to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the enactment of the Affordable Care Act. The landmark law, which has helped provide quality health care coverage for more than 40 million Americans, represents the most significant improvement to our nation’s health care system since the passage of Medicaid and Medicare more than five decades ago.
“All Americans deserve the peace of mind that if an illness strikes or an accident occurs you can get the care you need,” President Biden said. “The Affordable Care Act has been law for 13 years; it has developed deep roots in this country and become a critical part of providing health care and saving lives.”
California is among the states that have fully embraced and supported the landmark law by establishing Covered California and expanding the state’s Medi-Cal Program. Taken together, those programs have helped reduce the state’s uninsured rate from 17.2 percent in 2013 to a record-low 7.0 percent in 2021, the largest reduction of any state in the nation.
Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, 5.4 million people have received quality health insurance through Covered California. Right now, 1.74 million Californians are enrolled for the 2023 coverage year, and 330,000 of those people are also signed up for a supplemental dental insurance plan. An additional 80,000 people are enrolled in Covered California for Small Business.
“Covered California is proud to here alongside President Biden and so many others who have helped build on the tremendous progress that has been made through the Affordable Care Act over the past 13 years,” Altman said. “Happy anniversary, and we look forward to continuing to make a difference in the lives of Californians and those across the country by making health insurance more affordable and providing protection and peace of mind to more people than ever before.”
Coverage Is More Affordable Than Ever
Today, health insurance through Covered California and other Affordable Care Act marketplaces is more affordable than ever thanks to the recent passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. The law increased and expanded the amount of financial help available to those needing coverage. As a result, two out of every three Californians can get a comprehensive health insurance plan through Covered California for $10 or less per month.
“While we are celebrating today, we know that there are more people out there who need health care, and it is never too late to check out your options on CoveredCA.com,” Altman said. “Many people can get name-brand coverage for less than the price of a movie ticket, thanks to the increased and expanded financial help that is available.”
Californians Can Still Enroll in Coverage
On this anniversary, Covered California is also reminding people that they may still be able to sign up for coverage during the current special-enrollment period if they have recently experienced a significant live event.
As Covered California illustrates in its television ad, entitled “Life Takes a Turn,” some of the most common reasons that someone would be eligible for special enrollment would be losing health coverage, getting married, having a baby, permanently moving to California, or moving within California.
A full list of qualifying life events can be found here.
Those interested in learning more about their coverage options can:
- Visit www.CoveredCA.com.
- Get free and confidential in-person assistance, in a variety of languages, from a certified enroller.
- Have a certified enroller call them and help them for free.
- Call Covered California at (800) 300-1506.
Jan. 31 Is Deadline for Signing Up for Health Insurance in California
Edward Henderson | California Black Media | January 23, 2023
The open enrollment period for Californians to secure health insurance plans ends this week on Jan. 31,
Depending on your situation, there are multiple options to explore when searching for a plan that is best for you through Covered California.
Covered California is the state’s health exchange marketplace created to get Californians quality health insurance through brand name plans like Kaiser Permanente, BlueCross BlueShield, Cigna and many others.
One option is to buy a plan through Covered California. If you qualify for a tax credit to help offset your premiums, you may want to buy a plan through the marketplace. Qualifying usually depends on your income and household size. Your total household income must be between 128% and 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).
Another option is to renew or change your current plan. During the open enrollment period, you can renew your existing plan. You won’t have to do anything if you want to keep what you have. But if your current plan is changing — for instance, your Primary Care Physician (PCP) is leaving the network, or your drugs aren’t in the list of covered medications — then you may want to switch to a plan that best suits your current needs. If you need to change policies, the open enrollment period is the best time.
You can also enroll in Medi-Cal. If your income is below 128% of the FPL, you qualify for Medi-Cal, which is Medicaid for Californians.
“The pandemic took a toll on us in so many ways, including our behavioral and mental health, which are critical to our ability to live happy, healthy and productive lives,” said Jessica Altman, executive director of Covered California. “Getting the right behavioral health care starts with making sure people have health insurance with access to quality providers, and that can be done right now through Covered California’s open enrollment.”
Cameron Nelson is an artist and painter living in San Diego who plans to enroll with Covered California.
“As an independent artist I am the one responsible for finding healthcare since I don’t have a traditional job where it’s provided for me. Many of my friends who make a living off their art don’t have plans because they think it is too expensive to cover on their own. I’ve found the options the state provides to be helpful in my situation and I hope that my example can encourage other sole proprietors to do the same.”
The only other way to buy an insurance plan outside of open enrollment is to qualify for special enrollment. This timeframe is called the Special Enrollment Period (SEP). This exception allows you to apply for health insurance if you’ve had certain qualifying life events, such as losing your job, moving to a new state, getting married or divorced, becoming a widow or widower, aging off your parent’s plan or having a new baby.
You won’t be eligible for special enrollment if you lost your previous health plan because you failed to pay your monthly premiums or if you voluntarily cancelled the coverage.
Visit Health for California to get more information on plans that work best for you before the deadline arrives.
Annual Report to the Nation: Cancer deaths continue downward trend; modest improvements in survival for pancreatic cancer
CVV News l October 27, 2022
Overall cancer death rates continued to decline among men, women, children, and adolescents and young adults in every major racial and ethnic group in the United States from 2015 to 2019, according to the latest Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. From 2014 to 2018, overall cancer incidence, or new cases of cancer, remained stable for men and children but increased for women and adolescents and young adults. This year’s report, published October 27, 2022, in Cancer, also highlights longer-term trends in pancreatic cancer, as well as racial and ethnic disparities in incidence and death rates for many individual cancer sites.
All of the findings in this report are based on data from before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Today’s report is good news in our fight against cancer and is a reminder of the importance of President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot℠ initiative,” said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. “I’m deeply impressed by the progress we’re making against cancer and firmly believe we can meet the President’s goal of reducing the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years. We can and must end cancer as we know it.”
The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer is a collaborative effort among the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); the American Cancer Society (ACS); and the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR).
The report is based on a combined cancer incidence data set from NAACCR composed of data collected by CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries (NPCR) and NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, as well as mortality data from CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics.
The report shows that from 2015 to 2019, overall cancer death rates decreased by 2.1% per year in men and women combined. Among men, death rates decreased by 2.3% per year; among women, death rates decreased by 1.9% per year. The annual declines in death rate accelerated from 2001 to 2019 in both men and women.
The declines in death rates were steepest in lung cancer and melanoma (by 4% to 5% per year) among both men and women. Death rates increased for cancers of the pancreas, brain, and bones and joints among men, and for cancers of the pancreas and uterus among women.
“The findings in this year’s Annual Report to the Nation show our ongoing progress against cancer, continuing a more than two-decade trend in declining mortality that reflects improvements in preventing, detecting, and treating cancer,” said Monica M. Bertagnolli, M.D., director of NCI. “The advances shown in the report underscore the importance of working together across society to develop effective, equitable approaches to tackle this complex disease. I look forward to working with all our partners in the cancer community to meet these challenges head-on, because people affected by cancer—and that includes all of us—are counting on it.”
The report showed that cancer incidence rates were relatively stable in men and women combined from 2014 to 2018. Among men, incidence rates remained stable during this period, but among women incidence rates rose by 0.2% per year.
Over the same time period, incidence rates increased for three of the 18 most common cancers among men: pancreas, kidney, and testis. Incidence rates in men remained stable for seven of the most common cancers and decreased for the remaining eight cancers. For women, incidence rates increased for seven of the 18 most common cancers: liver, melanoma, kidney, myeloma, pancreas, breast, and oral cavity and pharynx. Incidence rates among women remained stable for four of the most common cancers and decreased for the other seven cancers.
In men, the greatest incidence rate increase was seen in pancreatic cancer, which increased by 1.1% per year, and the steepest incidence rate decrease was seen in lung cancer, which fell by 2.6% per year. In women, melanoma had the steepest increase in incidence, rising by 1.8% per year, and thyroid cancer had the sharpest decrease, falling by 2.9% per year.
“Through funding scientific breakthroughs and raising awareness about prevention and early detection, we are making progress against a subset of the more than 200 diseases we call cancer,” said Karen E. Knudsen, M.B.A, Ph.D., chief executive officer, American Cancer Society. “However, for certain cancer types, concerning trends persist, and durable cures remain elusive for many people. We are committed to improving the lives of all cancer patients and their families, through accelerating research, increasing access to care through advocacy, and by providing direct patient support in communities across the nation, toward the shared goal of eliminating cancer as we know it.”
Among other key findings of this year’s report:
- Overall cancer incidence rates during 2014 to 2018 were highest among non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) people, followed closely by non-Hispanic White people and non-Hispanic Black people. Overall cancer incidence rates were lowest among non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander (API) and Hispanic people.
- Incidence rates for all sites combined decreased among non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic API, and Hispanic men, but increased among non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic API, non-Hispanic AI/AN, and Hispanic women from 2014 to 2018. Incidence rates were stable among non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic AI/AN men and non-Hispanic Black women.
- Among children younger than 15, overall cancer death rates decreased from 2015 to 2019, and incidence rates remained stable from 2014 to 2018. Overall cancer incidence rates were stable for non-Hispanic Black children over this period but increased for non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic API, non-Hispanic AI/AN, and Hispanic children.
- Among adolescents and young adults ages 15 to 39, overall cancer incidence rates increased by 0.9% per year from 2014 to 2018. The overall cancer death rate decreased by 3.0% per year from 2001 to 2005, but the decline slowed to 0.9% per year from 2005 to 2019.
- The incidence of breast cancer, the most common cancer among adolescents and young adults, increased by an average of 1.0% per year from 2010 to 2018.
The researchers noted that racial and ethnic disparities exist for many individual cancer sites. For example, from 2014 to 2018, incidence rates for bladder cancer declined in non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, non-Hispanic API, and Hispanic men but increased among non-Hispanic AI/AN men. Incidence rates for uterine cancer increased among women of every racial and ethnic group from 2014 to 2018 except for non-Hispanic White women, who had stable rates.
From 2015 to 2019, prostate cancer death rates were stable among non-Hispanic White and non-Hispanic Black men but decreased among non-Hispanic API, non-Hispanic AI/AN, and Hispanic men. Colorectal cancer death rates were stable among non-Hispanic AI/AN men but decreased in men of all other racial and ethnic groups. Among women, death rates for lung, breast, and colorectal cancer decreased in nearly every racial and ethnic group. The exceptions were non-Hispanic API women, among whom breast cancer death rates remained stable, and non-Hispanic AI/AN women, among whom breast cancer death rates increased and colorectal cancer death rates remained stable.
“Factors such as race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status should not play a role in people’s ability to be healthy or determine how long they live,” said Lisa C. Richardson, M.D., M.P.H., director of CDC’s Division of Cancer Prevention and Control. “CDC works with its public health partners—within and outside the government—to address these disparities and advance health equity through a range of key initiatives, including programs, research, and policy initiatives. We know that we can meet this challenge together and create an America where people are free of cancer.”
This year’s report includes a special focus on trends in pancreatic cancer incidence, death, and survival rates. Although pancreatic cancer accounts for only 3% of new cancer diagnoses, it accounts for 8% of cancer deaths and is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States for both men and women.
From 2001 to 2018, incidence rates of pancreatic cancer increased by 1% per year among both men and women, and from 2001 to 2019, death rates increased by 0.2% per year for both sexes. From 2001 to 2018, incidence rates of two common subtypes of pancreatic cancer, neuroendocrine tumors and adenocarcinomas, increased in both men and women, while unspecified subtypes and other pancreatic tumors decreased.
The report also describes survival improvements by subtype. For example, one-year relative survival of people diagnosed with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors increased from 65.9% to 84.2% between 2001 and 2017, and for people diagnosed with pancreatic adenocarcinomas it increased from 24.0% to 36.7%. Five-year relative survival also increased between 2001 and 2013, from 43.4% to 65.2% for people with pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors, and from 4.4% to 6.6% for people with pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
These improvements in survival may be associated with improvements in therapy, the researchers said. No improvement was seen for unspecified and other pancreatic tumors, which tended to have a higher proportion diagnosed at older ages than the other types.
The researchers noted that the increases in survival for both adenocarcinomas and neuroendocrine tumors are tempered by the overall increase in the incidence of pancreatic cancer, which is generally attributed to the growing prevalence of obesity. And progress in treating pancreatic adenocarcinomas, which account for 80% of pancreatic cancer cases, remains incremental at best, the researchers said.
“Pancreatic cancer incidence and survival reflect both the underlying risk of disease as well as the difficulty of diagnosing pancreatic cancer at a treatable stage,” said Betsy A. Kohler, M.P.H., NAACCR executive director. “As advancements in screening technology and effective treatments for early-stage disease become available, we are hopeful for greater improvements in pancreatic cancer survival, which historically has been a particularly lethal cancer type.”
For more about the report, see: https://seer.cancer.gov/report_to_nation.
Combating Sickle Cell Disease
By CVV News l June 10, 2022
(NAPSI)—If you or someone you care about is among the estimated 100,000 Americans with sickle cell disease, here’s information that could be important:
One Man’s Story
Chris Ruffin Jr. never knows when extreme pain will strike. Since birth, Ruffin’s had sickle cell disease, an inherited condition that causes extreme pain when red blood cells become hard, crescent-shaped and have difficulty carrying oxygen to the rest of the body.
“It’s like having a charley horse,” said Ruffin. “It’s just a throbbing pain to the point where you can barely walk. It’s like your whole body hurts but you can’t do anything about it.”
The pain can strike at any time. A sickle cell pain crisis can suddenly occur in the back, knees, legs, arms, chest or stomach and last several hours to several days.
What Can Be Done
After suffering a stroke at six years old due to complications of the disease, Ruffin began receiving monthly blood transfusions to prevent further complications. Over the course of 22 years, he has received more than 3,130 units of blood through monthly red cell exchanges.
Individuals with sickle cell disease can require frequent blood transfusions throughout their lifetime—needing as many as 100 units of blood each year—to treat complications of the disease. Unfortunately, frequent transfusions can make finding compatible blood types even more difficult if patients develop an immune response against blood from donors that is not closely matched to the blood of the recipient.
That’s why on World Sickle Cell Day, June 19th, the American Red Cross wants to raise awareness about sickle cell disease and the challenges patients face while battling the chronic condition.
Through its Sickle Cell Initiative, the Red Cross has expanded its blood donation testing to include sickle cell trait screening on all donations from self-identified African American donors. This additional screening helps the Red Cross identify compatible blood types more quickly for patients with sickle cell.
Ruffin, an Emmy Award-winning senior news producer, credits a strong support system, good doctors, generous blood donors, and a consistent diet, exercise and rest routine as key factors to him succeeding with sickle cell.
“I didn’t always know how important blood was,” said Ruffin. “Based on the one hour it takes to donate blood, someone like me can live years longer and live a full life.”
How You Can Help
Eligible individuals who are feeling well can make an appointment to donate blood by visiting RedCrossBlood.org/OurBlood, using the Red Cross Blood Donor App or calling 1-800-RED-CROSS.
