09/16/20
In March of 2017, our organizations agreed upon three overarching principles to guide any work to reform and improve the nation’s healthcare system. These principles state that: (1) healthcare should be accessible, meaning that coverage should be easy to understand and not pose a barrier to care; (2) healthcare should be affordable, enabling patients to access the treatments they need to live healthy and productive lives; and (3) healthcare must be adequate, meaning healthcare coverage should cover treatments patients need, including all the services in the essential health benefit (EHB) package.
Our organizations strongly support efforts to increase transparency and opportunities for meaningful public comment on important policies that impact the health and wellbeing of the patients we represent. However, we are concerned that the proposed rule could have unintended consequences on policies impacting healthcare coverage that could ultimately harm patients with serious and chronic health conditions. We therefore urge HHS to withdraw this proposed rule.