2025 Tennessee Legislative Summary

2025 Tennessee Legislative Priorities  

Victory in the fight against cancer requires bold new public policies that promote cancer prevention, early detection of cancer, and expand access to quality, affordable health care. Lawmakers make many decisions that impact the lives of Tennesseans impacted by cancer and their leadership is vital to defeating this disease. In 2025, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) worked with the Tennessee General Assembly on legislative efforts to ensure adequate funding for lifesaving cancer screening and prevention programs and to enact prevention policies to protect kids from tobacco products and help support those who are trying to quit.    

In 2025, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) worked with the Tennessee General Assembly in support of the following priorities:   

Ensuring Access to Quality Care 

• Access to Biomarker Testing: ACS CAN advocated for improved coverage of comprehensive biomarker testing. Progress in improving cancer outcomes increasingly involves the use of precision medicine, which uses information about a person’s own genes or proteins to better diagnose and treat diseases like cancer. Biomarker testing is an important step to accessing precision medicine which includes targeted therapies that can lead to improved survivorship and better quality of life for cancer patients, but insurance coverage for biomarker testing is failing to keep pace with innovations and advancements in treatment. To address this, we helped champion legislation to get patients the right treatment at the right time. The bill passed through two committees in the Tennessee House of Representatives and garnered 25 bipartisan cosponsors. We will continue this work next year.  

Cancer Prevention and Early Detection 

• Colorectal Cancer: ACS CAN successfully advocated to establish funding for colorectal cancer screening, treatment, and patient navigation programs through the Tennessee Department of Health. ACS CAN will continue to work to ensure health plans cover colorectal cancer screening beginning at age 45 in accordance with updated American Cancer Society and United States Preventive Services Task Force guidelines and ensure patients are not charged for colonoscopies that follow a positive stool-based test.  

Reducing the Toll of Tobacco  

• Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding: ACS CAN successfully worked to increase funding for fact-based, statewide tobacco prevention and cessation programs from $2.00 million to $7.1 million this year.  This critical increase will allow the program to protect kids from tobacco products and support those trying to quit.  

For more information, contact: Maddie Michael,  

Tennessee Government Relations Director ACS CAN   

[email protected] Phone Number: 319-621-1795 

 
ACS CAN is making cancer a top priority for public officials and candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. ACS CAN empowers advocates across the country to make their voices heard and influence evidence-based public policy change as well as legislative and regulatory solutions that will reduce the cancer burden. As the American Cancer Society’s nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate, ACS CAN is critical to the fight for a world without cancer. For more information, please visit www.fightcancer.org.