Public Policy Resources

Share

ACS CAN Comments on DACA proposed rule

June 23, 2023

Access to care for those who are uninsured not only ensures that serious diseases like cancer can be detected and treated earlier but also often means better patient outcomes and less costs to the individual and the larger health care system. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) expanded health insurance coverage to millions of Americans. However, despite these coverage gains, thirteen years after the law was enacted approximately 31 million people in the United States remain uninsured with data showing that noncitizens are more likely to be uninsured. In 2021, 25% of lawfully present individuals and 46% of undocumented immigrants were uninsured, compared to only 8 percent of U.S. citizens.[1]

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients are nearly three times as likely to be uninsured than the general U.S. population.[2] This proposed rule would reduce barriers to healthcare by removing the current provision that treats DACA recipients differently from other individuals with deferred action who are otherwise  eligible for coverage for certain federal programs. ACS CAN supports this rule that would expand federal insurance coverage eligibility and help reverse the healthcare disparities that hundreds of thousands of DACA recipients have experienced for over a decade. We urge HHS to finalize the rule as proposed prior to the commencement of the 2024 open enrollment period.

 

[1] Kaiser Family Foundation. Health coverage of immigrants. Dec. 19, 2022. Available at https://www.kff.org/uninsured/issue-brief/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-population/.

[2] National Immigration Law Center. DACA Recipients’ Access to Health Care: 2023 Report. May 2023. Available at https://www.nilc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/NILC_DACA-Report_2023.pdf.

PDF icon acs_can_comments_on_daca_nprm_final.pdf

Related Resources

May 29, 2025

Congress Should Reauthorize the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) urges Congress to reauthorize the the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) to provide the program greater flexibility to NBCCEDP grantees, enabling them to implement evidence-based lifesaving screening, diagnostic, and treatment services and continue the innovative work aimed to reduce breast and cervical cancer disparities by passing the Screening for Communities to Receive Early and Equitable Needed Services (SCREENS) forCancer Act (H.R. 2381/S. 1866). This is critical to overall efforts to ensure that everyone has a fair and just opportunity toprevent, detect, treat and survive cancer.

Read More

Survivor Views: Majority of Cancer Patients & Survivors Have or Expect to Have Medical Debt

May 9, 2024

Our latest survey finds that about half of cancer patients and survivors (49%) have incurred medical debt to pay for their cancer care and another 13% expect to incur medical debt as they begin or continue their treatment. Nearly all of those (98%) had health care coverage at the time they accumulated medical debt. This survey also explores the broad health and financial implications of medical debt, how medical debt deepens inequites, and the alarming rate of cancer related medical debt among younger respondents with early diagnoses.

Read more

The PSA Screening for HIM Act (H.R. 1300/S. 297)

January 24, 2024

The PSA Screening for HIM Act  (H.R. 1300/S. 297) would remove out-of-pocket costs for prostate cancer screening for those at highest risk for the disease. 

Read more