Julie R. Gralow, MD, FACP, FASCO, Chief Medical Officer & Executive Vice President of the Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO), will testify before the full House Committee on Ways and Means on the crisis of ongoing cancer drug shortages. Dr. Gralow will share ASCO members’ firsthand experiences managing clinical care in the face of severe shortages. She will also urge Congress to take action to help mitigate the problem.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Labor and the Treasury Department issued a proposed rule regulating the availability of short-term limited duration insurance (STLDI) plans. The rule would restrict the availability of these plans to no more than four months. 

ALEXANDRIA, Va. – “Today’s ruling is a significant step backward in the effort to reduce cancer incidence and death. By reversing the now more than decade-long requirement that insurance plans cover proven cancer screenings—including those for breast, colon, and lung—health plans could reinstate cost-sharing and patients could once again be forced to weigh the potentially lifesaving benefit of a doctor-recommended cancer screening against the out-of-pocket costs it may generate.

“ASCO applauds President Biden’s focus on ‘ending cancer as we know it’ during the State of the Union address. We continue to urge the president to keep cancer care and research as top national priorities and are pleased with his plans to advance efforts to strengthen the Cancer Moonshot, improve cancer clinical trials, and foster breakthroughs through the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H).”

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) applauds President Biden for his decision to appoint ASCO-Past President Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, FACS, FASCO, as the new Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI). An accomplished cancer surgeon and researcher with deep expertise in community-based cancer research, Dr. Bertagnolli has the knowledge, passion, and skillset to successfully lead the nation’s top federal cancer research agency and the wider U.S. cancer research enterprise. We enthusiastically endorse her selection, recognizing Dr. Bertagnolli’s distinguished leadership and experience in advancing evidence-based cancer care and research.

In many areas of the United States, the healthcare system is facing critical workforce shortages. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) encourages public health officials and healthcare facilities to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for managing healthcare personnel with SARS-CoV-2 infection or exposure to SARS-CoV-2. These guidelines allow for different levels of restrictions on staffing based on the level of shortages being experienced. However, in making these decisions, ASCO strongly encourages institutions and public health agencies to recognize the greater risk of infection and adverse outcomes that immune-suppressed individuals, including many patients with cancer, face from SARS-CoV-2 and to make decisions about staffing for the care of those individuals with thoughtful consideration of that greater risk. Unless no alternative exists, COVID-19 positive health workers, even if asymptomatic, should not be assigned to care for patients with cancer