2026 Oklahoma Legislative Session Summary

2026 Oklahoma Legislative Session Summary

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 Oklahomans 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 Oklahoma Legislature on the following priorities:

Ensuring Access to Quality Care

• Medicaid expansion: ACS CAN successfully advocated against attempts to remove Medicaid expansion from the Oklahoma Constitution. Two proposals that would have placed on a primary runoff ballot a state question to remove Medicaid expansion from the Constitution and place it in statute did not advance to the desk of the governor.
• ACS CAN also successfully advocated against additional proposals that would have asked voters to remove Medicaid expansion from the Constitution if the federal medical assistance percentage were reduced below 90 percent,
• Medicaid Defense: ACS CAN also successfully advocated against legislation that would have imposed cost-sharing on healthcare services for expansion enrollees.
• Access to Biomarker Testing: ACS CAN successfully opposed legislation that would have repealed the requirement that Medicaid provide coverage for biomarker testing.
• Affordable, Adequate Health Insurance: ACS CAN successfully advocated against junk insurance legislation that would have provided tax benefits to healthcare sharing ministries, legitimizing an unregulated health product.

Reducing the Toll of Tobacco

• Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding: ACS CAN successfully advocated against legislation that would have asked voters to dismantle the Oklahoma Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) in a statewide ballot initiative.
• ACS CAN also successfully advocated against legislation that would have modified the percentage distribution of funds from the annual master settlement agreement payment to the state, reducing the amount available for programs including clinical trials, cancer research, and tobacco prevention.  
• Tobacco Taxes: ACS CAN successfully advocated against legislation that would have established a weight-based tax structure for smokeless tobacco products resulting in cheap products making them more appealing, especially to youth.

Tobacco Industry Product Registry: ACS CAN successfully advocated against tobacco industry legislation to regulate and enforce certain tobacco products differently than others.

For more information, contact: Matt Glanville, Oklahoma and Arkansas Government Relations Director, ACS CAN   [email protected]  405.301.6311