Why? Cancer is a complex disease.
It’s critical for people who are diagnosed to get treated early, and be offered high-quality treatment options. Early intervention makes a difference in outcomes. The Delaware Cancer Treatment Program has also become a key factor in the success of getting people screened for cancer. There is a sense of fatality in the attitude of people who are uninsured or underinsured. Why get screened for cancer and learn you have the disease if you have no insurance to pay for treatment? In a very real way, the DCTP has been a tool to encourage people to get screened. Finding cancer early further reduces the cost of treatment. For example, the lifetime treatment cost for late-stage breast and prostate cancer is consistently $50,000 to $100,000 higher than disease treatment at an early stage.
ARE SOME OF US MORE AFFECTED BY THIS THAN OTHERS?
- The uninsured populations in Delaware have no other resource to pay for cancer treatment.
WHAT CAN BE DONE
- Continue to pay for cancer treatment for those who meet the DCTP guidelines.
- Extend the time period to cover the cost of cancer treatment to two years.
Goal 1
|
Year 1
$7,000,000
|
Year 2
$7,500,000
|
Year 3
$8,000,000
|
Year 4
$8,500,000
|
| Task/Action |
Responsible Party |
Timeframe |
| Revise regulation for the Delaware Cancer Treatment Program (DCTP) to expand eligibility from 12 to 24 months. |
General Assembly, Insurance Commissioner |
Year 1 |
| Reimburse providers enrolled in the MMIS system for costs related to cancer treatment for clients enrolled in DCTP. |
DPH |
Year 1 & ongoing |
| Monitor and evaluate expenditures, client disposition (e.g., insurance eligibility) and health outcomes to ensure efficient resource utilization and quality care. |
DCTP administration, contractor |
Year 1 & ongoing |
Goal 2
| Task/Action |
Responsible Party |
Timeframe |
| Obtain buy-in from insurers, including self-insured entities, to share claims data with the Division of Public Health with the aim to improve assessment of cancer health care utilization statewide. |
Insurance Commissioner |
Year 1 |
| Develop estimates of the level of effort required to obtain, process and analyze health insurance claims data. |
DPH, Insurers |
Year 1 |
| Delineate the scope of data required to enhance cancer screening, incidence and treatment surveillance. |
DPH, Insurers |
Year 2 |
| Pilot the process with data acquired from one insurer. |
DPH, Insurers |
Year 2 |
| Develop data-sharing agreements between the insurers and the Division of Public Health. |
Insurance Commissioner, DPH, Insurers |
Year 2 |
| Implement data-sharing system. |
DPH, Insurers |
Year 3 |