ONS Submits Comments on CMS’s Risk Adjustment Methodology
On March 24, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a white paper related to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) risk adjustment methodology under the Affordable Care Act. ONS contributed comments to reflect the key issues of interest to oncology nurses and their patients. HHS’s risk adjustment methodology illustrates that health insurance premiums should be correlated to plan benefits, quality, and efficiency—not patients’ health status. This would preclude insurers from enforcing high premiums on high-risk enrollees.
ONS supported the methodology and called for specifications to outline patients with cancer. Moreover, ONS called for further clarification within the prescription drug portion of the risk adjustment methodology.
ONS Member Attends Forum on Future of Health Care
On April 19, 2016, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network held the National Forum on the Future of Health Care. The meeting’s focus was on the role of technology in American health care. ONS member Tracy Gosselin, PhD, RN, AOCN®, sat on the panel discussion “Evaluating the Impact of Technological Innovation on Quality, Cost, and Patient Experience of Care” along with other healthcare experts.
“Participating on the panel allowed me to share the impact that technology has had for patients with cancer,” Gosselin said. “Not just focusing on the cost, but understanding the impact on quality and how the patient experiences their cancer care today.”
Other topics discussed at the national forum were “Gadgets or Game-Changers? Building on Current Technologies for Future Innovations in the Fight Against Cancer” and “The Power of Current Technologies in the Fight against Cancer” both of which discussed the current and future possibilities of technology in the oncology field.
ONS to Participate in National Academy of Medicine Roundtable
The quality of care for people with serious illnesses is a huge concern to ONS, its members, and the oncology community as a whole. ONS will participate in the roundtable meeting, Assessing Progress in End-of-Life and Serious Illness Care, hosted by the National Academy of Medicine in May 2016. The meeting will build off the Health and Medicine Division’s report “Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life” that was published in 2014 and aims to focus on the progress and current challenges for end-of-life care.
Oncology nurses understand the challenges of end-of-life care, and your input is needed to better understand the quality of care for people with serious illnesses. By filling out this questionnaire, your feedback will be used at the meeting to create a more complete picture of the attitudes and challenges still facing people with serious illnesses.