Pursuant to the charter of the National Cancer Treatment Alliance (NCTA), and in accordance with applicable state laws, we present the 2023/2024 NCTA Public Benefit Report. This report seeks to capture our promotion of the public benefit specified in the NCTA charter and the interests of those affected by our activities.

Objectives of the NCTA

Navigating cancer treatment has become significantly more complex for employers and their employees who must understand complex cancer care issues, such as the cost of services, value of diagnostic and genetic testing, the role of new immunotherapies, and the equivalency of biosimilars. This is set against a confusing backdrop of state and federal public policy and shifting regulatory landscape.

Responding to these challenges, the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) created the National Cancer Treatment Alliance. The purpose of NCTA is to develop a presence and relationship with employers and the business groups/coalitions representing them. NCTA offers the expertise of its oncology network in providing information, resources, and educational materials for both employers and employees. NCTA helps employers and employees meet their needs relating to affordable, accessible, and high-quality cancer care.

NCTA is a coalition of leading, independent community oncology practices across the country that are working to increase quality while reducing the cost of cancer care. Working together with self-insured employers, progressive payers, transparent pharmacy benefit managers, and other stakeholders, NCTA offers its partners access to a national clinically integrated oncology network, as well as expert oncology information, resources, and education for both employers and employees. A benefit corporation (B-Corp) subsidiary of the non-profit COA, NCTA has a clinically integrated network (CIN) that seeks to provide solutions to employers and health plan sponsors who are increasingly frustrated by an expensive, complex, and unfriendly cancer care system. Since its founding, NCTA has established strong relationships with leading national and regional business coalitions and other collaborative organizations.

Progress Towards Meeting Our Mission and Business Plan

 The NCTA Business Plan established standards for the company to promote the public benefits and interests to employers and other stakeholders. NCTA developed a CIN controlled and owned by NCTA/COA. The CIN will contract with employers, directly or through employer-facing organizations. In addition, NCTA has developed relationships with employers, business groups on health, and other organizations through educational programs and projects. COA provides administrative, operations, and IT support to NCTA on a services fee basis.

Building Relationships and Educating Key Audiences

NCTA has built relationships with, and is learning from, the nation’s top business groups on health and coalitions and many of the smaller organizations to better understand their issues, struggles, and concerns regarding cancer care. NCTA has presented at many Business Groups on Health conferences educating on Value-Based Insurance Design, Cancer Screening, and Precision Medicine.

Over the past two years, NCTA has undertaken a robust educational initiative on phase II biomarker testing in precision medicine and specifically oncology. In our conversations with stakeholders, the NCTA team consistently received feedback about a lack of education and understanding by employers and employees on the use and value of biomarker testing. The lack of knowledge around biomarker testing can lead to policies and benefit structures that impede treatment options and outcomes for employees and covered lives facing cancer. NCTA organized, developed, and distributed a comprehensive suite of unbranded resources to business groups and employers on biomarker testing. The goal is for employers to better understand the value of biomarker testing and options for planning benefit design around it.

NCTA has demonstrated success in meeting its objectives, in accordance with standards developed and approved by the Board, by building relationships with target business groups and the employers/employees they serve.

COA Quality and Value Standards

The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) designed the Quality and Value Standards to help guide independent community oncology practices forward and ensure they can remain resilient and patient-focused in an ever-evolving complex landscape. The standards help to ensure that patients with cancer will have equitable access to high-quality and affordable cancer care, instilling hope, and confidence in their journey.

The NCTA practices are committed to adhering to the eight COA Quality and Value Standards.

• Patient Engagement, Education and Goal Setting
• Patient Access to Care and Support Services
• Evidence-Based Cancer Care
• Closely Coordinated and Integrated Team-Based Care
• Continuous Quality Measurement and Improvement
• Goals of Care, Palliative, and End of Life Discussion
• Chemotherapy Safety and Management
• High Quality and High Value Cancer Care at a Lower Cost

Assessing Success

The assessment of NCTA’s success in meeting these objectives is substantiated by the number of educational opportunities and other initiatives achieved.

• COA Conference 2023 – The New Horizon: Working Directly with Employers 3/23/2023
• NCCA Meeting 2/22-24/2023
• Greater Philadelphia Business Group on Health Meeting 4/4/2023
• Oncology Circle 5/11/2023
• Mid-West Business Group on Health Meeting 9/13/2023
• National Alliance of Healthcare Purchasers Coalition Webinar 10/17/2023
• Payer Exchange Summit 10/24/2023
• Employer Health Coalition Biomarker Testing 11/3/2023
• CIN currently has 48 Practices, 877 Providers, 227 Locations across 29 1/2024
• What Employers Need to Know About Biomarker Testing Webinar 1/18/2024
• Employer Health Roundtable 3/5/2024
• Addressing Health Disparities in Lung Cancer Treatment, Removing Barriers to Optimal Care Through Policy Solutions 3/12/2024
• North Carolina Business Coalition on Health Employer Roundtable 3/14/2024
• The Future of Biosimilars, Strategies for Success (Webinar) 3/20/2024
• Employers Forum of Indiana 4/19/2024
• NHLC Coalition Strategy Summit 6/10/2024
• 55 NCTA CIN Practices attested to meeting the COA Value and Quality Standards 7/2024
• Biomarker Testing: What Employers and Insurers Need to Know Webinar 8/27/2024
• AVBCC “Self-Insured Employer Market on the Future of Cancer Care” Presentation 10/16-18/2024
• Employers Health Women’s Health Conference 10/24/2024
• Disparities to Accessing Biomarker Testing in Lung, Breast, and Prostate Cancer White Paper 2024
• 2024 National Alliance of Healthcare Purchasers Coalition, Biomarker Testing listed as a resource

Robert Baird, RN, MSA
President
National Cancer Treatment Alliance
Date: May 22, 2025