COVID Legislation with an Impact on the Cancer Community
With everyone focused on COVID issues, there is the risk that the needs of cancer patients and their families will be overlooked. Fortunately, several variations of COVID relief and pandemic preparedness legislation being discussed on Capitol Hill are of relevance to the cancer community.
In this post, we’ll walk you through what we know:
EXPANDED PAID LEAVE:
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has advised that those at high risk for severe illness from the novel coronavirus continue to shelter-in-place, even as cities and states reopen businesses. But existing emergency paid leave policies leave many of our most vulnerable unprotected, forcing families to face the impossible decision to place their (or their child’s) health at risk by going back to work too soon or to lose their job and (likely) their health insurance. Cancer patients receiving chemotherapy or survivors with lasting heart and lung damage, for example, are at an elevated risk.
As Congress develops its next legislative response to COVID-19, it’s critical that they ensure people with underlying health conditions and working members of their household receive job protection and financial support that enables them to remain at home for the duration of the pandemic.
Under emergency paid leave policies legislated in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, workers are only eligible for up to two weeks of financial support and job protection through expanded paid sick leave, along with other limitations. The House passed the HEROES Act in May, which expands upon this assistance. The patient community is mobilizing to urge the Senate to follow suit.
You can join us in asking Congress to expand eligibility for paid family and medical leave to include people with chronic conditions and working members of their households:
Take action here.
CLINICAL TRIAL COVERAGE:
The CLINICAL TREATMENT Act was included in a concept paper this spring for the 21st Century Cures 2.0 (CURES 2.0) package. Advocacy organizations have also been working with Capitol Hill champions to include this as a priority in COVID relief legislation. We signed a letter in support of this and have advocated actively for the bill’s passage.
The CLINICAL TREATMENT Act would federally require Medicaid to cover routine costs associated with enrollment in approved clinical trials for those with life threatening conditions. At least one-third of childhood cancer patients depend on Medicaid coverage for their care – and that number may be greater now. Many Americans have lost their jobs and insurance coverage during the pandemic and Medicaid’s enrollment numbers are increasing, making this legislation especially urgent.
We will continue to work with partnering coalitions to seek out opportunities for passage of the CLINICAL TREATMENT Act in one of these larger legislative vehicles, whether it be Cures 2.0, a COVID relief bill, or some other healthcare package.
You can help by reaching out to your legislative representatives about this bill.
PALLIATIVE CARE:
There is also a patient community campaign for legislation that helps the country prepare for the next pandemic by strengthening public health infrastructure. One legislative component we support and have mobilized our grassroots network around is the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA).
We urge Congress to include PCHETA in a pandemic preparedness bill, to address the need for greater palliative care education and training. There is an existing shortage of health professionals with palliative care training and we believe Congress must act now to alleviate this strain and come to the aid of an overburdened hospice workforce.
PCHETA was passed by the House of Representatives in October (H.R.647) so we know this bill has strong public and Hill support. We urge Congress to include this legislation in a larger COVID relief package or in a pandemic preparedness bill to meet the urgent need that this crisis has only made worse.
Take action on this legislation.
BOOSTING RESEARCH:
We are also monitoring new legislation to help research universities recover from the impact of the pandemic. The bipartisan Research Investment to Spark the Economy (RISE) Act authorizes about $26 billion in emergency relief for federal sciences agencies, including $10 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services.