ASTRO appreciates Supreme Court's decision to uphold consumer tax credits under the ACA

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) appreciates yesterday's ruling by the United States Supreme Court affirming the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in its decision on King v. Burwell. In its ruling, the Supreme Court confirmed that Americans will have access to tax credits for health insurance subsidies, regardless of whether they are accessing state-based health insurance marketplaces or federally facilitated health insurance marketplaces.

"On behalf of the more than one million cancer patients we care for each year, ASTRO appreciates the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the consumer tax credits under the ACA," said ASTRO Chair Bruce G. Haffty, MD, FASTRO. "The Court's ruling ensures that millions of Americans will have access to affordable, quality health care. Most importantly, the ACA will allow us to continue our efforts to develop new treatments and save the lives of patients with cancer, particularly through patient participation in clinical trials and coverage for cancer screenings. The ACA is an essential component in the reformation of America's health care infrastructure focused on access, affordability and quality."

There are more than 1.6 million patients diagnosed with cancer each year and more than 14.5 million cancer survivors. The Affordable Care Act protects this significant patient population with important provisions, including these issues critical to cancer diagnosis, treatment and survivorship: 1) safeguards insurance coverage for anyone with pre-existing conditions, including a previous or current cancer diagnosis; 2) bans lifetime caps on coverage; 3) eliminates co-pays for preventative services such as cancer screenings; and 4) requires coverage for routine patient costs associated with participating in a clinical trial.