NABTC Applauds Inclusion of Clinical Trials Coverage in Senate Health Reform Bill

January 18, 2010

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition actively supported the efforts of Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) to provide clinical trials coverage to patients through the health reform bill, and NABTC applauds the action by the Senate to include this provision in its reform package. The Senate provision would require health and insurance plans to pay for the routine patient care costs for those enrolled in clinical trials, in a manner consistent with coverage of those costs if the patient were receiving standard therapy outside a trial.

This provision of the Senate bill is of critical importance for individuals who wish to enroll in clinical trials, which may represent their best treatment option. Third-party coverage of trials, by removing (more...)

Posted in Advocacy Positions, Health Care Reform

NABTC Joins Advocates in Describing Elements of Health Reform Bill to Assist the Disabled

January 18, 2010

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition joined more than 100 organizations in a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) that describes elements that must be retained in the final health reform bill to assist those who are in the so-called Medicare waiting period. These organizations, all supporters of the Coalition to End the Two-Year Wait for Medicare, have been a strong voice for the disabled during the health reform effort.

In its letter, the Coalition to End the Two-Year Wait for Medicare acknowledged that neither the House or Senate bill eliminates the waiting period. However, the letter applauded the House and Senate for expanding Medicaid and for providing tax credits that (more...)

Posted in Advocacy Positions, Health Care Reform

NABTC Urges Senate Approval of Brown-Hutchison Clinical Trials Amendment

December 16, 2009

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition is urging Senators to approve the Brown-Hutchison amendment to require insurance coverage of clinical trials. The bipartisan amendment, sponsored by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) and offered as an amendment to the health reform bill, would require insurance and health plans to pay for the routine patient care costs that are incurred by patients who enroll in clinical trials. The amendment would ensure that patients enjoy insurance coverage for care in trials that is comparable to the coverage they would enjoy outside a trial.

The Senate is attempting to finish its work on health reform before Christmas Day, so efforts to advance the clinical trials amendment must be (more...)

Posted in Advocacy Positions, Brain Tumor Research, Health Care Reform

NABTC Identifies Essential Elements of Health Care Reform for Brain Tumor Patients

September 28, 2009

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition is closely monitoring the current deliberations of the Senate Finance Committee on its health reform bill and will remain vigilant during the remainder of the legislative process to protect the interests of brain tumor patients.

Individuals with brain tumors sometimes find that they cannot purchase health insurance at the time they most need it, and even those with insurance may face crippling financial burdens due to high out-of-pocket costs. Even though brain tumor care in the United States can be outstanding, it is not necessarily available to all who need it. To improve brain tumor patients’ access to care, the NABTC supports a strong health reform package.

As the Congress returned to (more...)

Posted in Advocacy Positions, Headlines, Health Care Reform

NABTC Mourns the Loss of Senator Edward M. Kennedy

August 31, 2009

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition (NABTC) mourns the loss of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, a champion for access to health care for all Americans. Senator Kennedy was a tireless friend to the NABTC and all Americans fighting for better health care. He fiercely and ceaselessly championed more biomedical research funding, a rejuvenated war on cancer, incentives for pediatric cancer therapeutic development, and universal access to health insurance.

The NABTC, a coalition of brain tumor organizations dedicated (more...)

Posted in General News

NABTC Articulates Principles of Quality Care for Brain Tumor Patients

July 22, 2009

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition has joined with other patient advocacy organizations in pressing Congress to approve health care reform that will ensure all Americans access to quality care. The Coalition has also developed and circulated to policy-makers a set of principles for quality care for brain tumor patients.

Receiving a diagnosis of a brain tumor is the beginning of a difficult journey for brain tumor patients, and the health care system is often not responsive to the needs of those patients. The Coalition has outlined the needs of brain tumor patients and will be working to ensure that a reformed health care system is responsive to these needs.

The NABTC document, Principles of Quality Care for Brain (more...)

Posted in Advocacy Positions, General News, Headlines, Health Care Reform

NABTC Joins Cancer Leadership Council In Urging Health Reform That Responds to Needs of Cancer Patients

July 22, 2009

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition joined its colleagues in the cancer community in writing all Members of Congress to express their support for legislation that will ensure all Americans access to health care. The Cancer Leadership Council also identified some key provisions that should be included in any reform bill. These elements are: 1) insurance market reforms to guarantee that individuals who have pre-existing conditions will nonetheless have access to health insurance, 2) protection from annual and lifetime insurance caps, 3) elimination of cost-sharing requirements for prevention and screening services, 4) protection of important coverage standards to ensure that the policies that Americans are offered provide them comprehensive care, 5) inclusion of consumer advocates in advisory panels (more...)

Posted in Advocacy Positions, General News, Health Care Reform

NABTC Presses for More Funds for NIH and for a Restoration of Funding for the Adult Brain Tumor Consortium

April 22, 2009

President Obama and Congress provided a major boost to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the biomedical researchers who depend on NIH funding by including in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), or stimulus package, more than $10 billion for NIH. This funding includes contruction funds for NIH and construction funds for extramural institutions along with money for biomedical research and comparative effectiveness research. Of the $10 billion total, approximately $8.2 billion will be distributed in grants to extramural researchers.

The NABTC applauds this action, which comes after four years of virtually static funding for NIH. During this period of time, research budgets were cut and new projects were slowed or stalled. Although the stimulus (more...)

Posted in Action Items, Advocacy Positions, Brain Tumor Action Week, Brain Tumor Research

NABTC Urges Action to End Medicare Waiting Period; Coalition Fighting for Reform Includes 90 Leading Organizations

April 22, 2009

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition joins 90 other leading health care organizations in seeking the elimination of the Medicare Waiting Period for those receiving Social Security Disability benefits. Under the current Medicare rules, individuals must wait two years after they begin to receive Social Security Disability payments before they may receive health care through Medicare. This policy has been in effect since Medicare was expanded in 1972 to provide benefits to the disabled, and year in and year out the policy denies disabled individuals who desperately need health care the ability to receive that care through Medicare for two long years. Tragically, some disabled Americans die while they are waiting for Medicare benefits.

The NABTC has (more...)

Posted in Action Items, Advocacy Positions, Brain Tumor Action Week

Brain Tumor Care and Cures Act of 2009: An Advocates’ Plan for Enhancing Brain Tumor Treatments

April 22, 2009

The North American Brain Tumor Coalition seeks to advance the Brain Tumor Care and Cures Act, a draft bill that would authorize programs and activities to improve brain tumor treatments. NABTC advocates include individuals with brain tumors, family members and friends of those diagnosed with brain tumors, caregivers, and physicians, nurses, and basic researchers. The experience of these advocates related to brain tumors is broad and deep, and they relied on this experience in drafting the Brain Tumor Care and Cures Act.

The bill includes initiatives that brain tumor advocates believe will accelerate the development of new brain tumor treatments and improve access to care by brain tumor patients. The brain tumor research task is so (more...)

Posted in Action Items, Advocacy Positions, Brain Tumor Action Week, Brain Tumor Research