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Upholding the Affordable Care Act—implications for oncology

Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology volume 9, pages 491–492 (2012)Cite this article

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The Affordable Care Act—the Obama administration's signature legislation designed to insure over 30 million currently uninsured Americans—was recently declared constitutional by the US Supreme Court. Although not perfect, the law contains provisions that will benefit patients with cancer, those at risk of cancer and those in remission.

Key Points

  • The Affordable Care Act (ACA) will bring 32 million uninsured individuals into the insurance system

  • The law will provide support for early detection by providing cancer screenings free of charge

  • The ACA will enhance cancer clinical trial participation

  • Overall, the ACA will enhance the care of patients with cancer for years to come

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Figure 1: How the Patient Protection and Affordable Heath Care bill is financed.

References

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the editorial assistance of Deborah Kamin, PhD.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Washington Cancer Institute, Medstar Washington Hospital Center, 110 Irving Street NW, 20010, Washington DC

    Sandra Swain

  2. Georgetown University, 3800 Resevoir Road NW, 20057, Washington, DC, USA

    Sandra Swain

  3. Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center, 300 East 66th Street, Room 813, Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center, New York, 10065, NY

    Clifford Hudis

  4. Weill Cornell Medical College, 525 East 68th Street, New York, 10065, NY, USA

    Clifford Hudis

Authors
  1. Sandra Swain
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  2. Clifford Hudis
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Correspondence to Clifford Hudis.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Cite this article

Swain, S., Hudis, C. Upholding the Affordable Care Act—implications for oncology. Nat Rev Clin Oncol 9, 491–492 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrclinonc.2012.141

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