2026 Kentucky Legislative Session Summary

Victory in the fight against cancer requires bold 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 Kentucky Residents impacted by cancer and their leadership is vital to defeating this disease.

In 2026 the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, ACS CAN, worked with the Kentucky General Assembly on Medicaid policies and initiatives to make larger invests in tobacco prevention and cessation.

Reducing the Toll of Tobacco 

• Smoke-free Air: ACS CAN was successful in keeping a statewide exemption to local smoke free ordinances from becoming law. A House bill would have allowed indoor cigar and pipe smoking at designated cigar bars regardless of whether the community had an existing smoke-free ordinance. ACS CAN was able to keep the bill from being taken up in the Senate after it passed the House.
• Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding: The need for prevention and cessation investments has never been greater. However, despite our aggressive advocacy for increased budget allocations, lawmakers made slight budget cuts to the tobacco control program and did not pass our bill to direct future JUUL settlement funds to you tobacco prevention. The bill did pass out of committee for the first time, which creates positive momentum for the measure in the 2027 session.

Medicaid

• Medicaid Defense: ACS CAN worked with Senate leaders to significantly mitigate House Bill 2, a Medicaid bill placing restrictions on Medicaid coverage and increasing Medicaid cost-sharing. The original bill would have disproportionately impacted cancer patients with Medicaid coverage and created numerous barriers to care. We were successful in reducing the harms of the bill, ultimately reducing the lookback period for Medicaid work requirements and reducing the amount of Medicaid co-pays to $5 for services and $1 for prescriptions.

For more information, contact: Doug Hogan, ACS CAN Kentucky Government Relations Director

[email protected] Phone 502.545.6299

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.