2026 Legislative Priorities

2026 Alabama 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 Alabamians impacted by cancer and their leadership is vital to defeating this disease.

In 2026 the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) will work with the Alabama legislature on legislative and regulatory efforts that provide affordable, adequate access to health insurance including Medicaid, ensure adequate funding for lifesaving cancer screening and prevention programs, and enact prevention policies to protect kids from tobacco products and help support those who are trying to quit. We will be making the following fact-based policies a priority and ask for your support:

Ensuring Access to Quality Care

• Medicaid Coverage: ACS CAN will advocate for low-income individuals and families to have access to comprehensive health insurance coverage and non-emergent medical transportation services through state Medicaid programs. We will support policies that preserve funding and access to Medicaid for low-income parents and adults  including changes to Medicaid that reduce coverage, benefits, eligibility, or quality of care and improvement of Medicaid systems. ACS CAN will advocate for Medicaid expansion in states that have not increased eligibility up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

Cancer Prevention and Early Detection

• Prostate Cancer: ACS CAN will advocate for policies that improve prostate cancer screening rates and reduce disparities. This includes policies that would give men at high-risk for prostate cancer improved access to prostate cancer screening by requiring health insurance coverage for evidence-based prostate cancer preventative care and screenings, without cost sharing.
• Breast and Cervical Cancer: ACS CAN will advocate to maintain funding of $600,000 for the Alabama Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program, the state breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment program for low-income uninsured and underinsured women administered by the Alabama Department of Health.

Reducing the Toll of Tobacco

• Tobacco Taxes: As the state works to identify funding strategies to fund critical programs, ACS CAN will advocate to increase the cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack with a parallel tax on all other tobacco products including e-cigarettes. Increasing the price of cigarettes and all other tobacco products through regular and significant tobacco tax increases helps prevent kids from starting to use tobacco and helps support people who are trying to quit.  $55 million of the revenue from the tobacco tax increase should be used to fund and sustain fact-based, statewide tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
• Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding: ACS CAN will work to increase funding for fact-based, statewide tobacco prevention and cessation programs to $6 million.  Increasing funding to $6 million will allow the program to fund the Quitline, tobacco prevention and cessation programs.
• Access to Tobacco Cessation: ACS CAN will advocate for all insurance plans, including the state Medicaid program, to provide a comprehensive cessation benefit that covers individual, group, and telephone counseling and all FDA-approved tobacco cessation medications without cost-sharing or other barriers to accessing care.

Local Control

• ACS CAN supports the authority of local governments to pass local policies that go beyond state laws to help families be healthy, safe and secure. Policymaking at the local level allows innovation and creative problem solving that builds on local strengths and addresses local needs. ACS CAN works at the local, state and federal levels to ensure everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, fight and survive cancer. ACS CAN will oppose legislation that restricts the freedom of local leaders to best serve your shared constituents. 

For more information, contact: Jane Adams, Alabama Government Relations Director ACS CAN 

[email protected] 256-527-4928 

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.