Vermont 2026 Legislative Priorities

2026 Vermont 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 Vermonters impacted by cancer and their leadership is vital to defeating this disease. In 2024 the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) will work with the VT General Assembly 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 Defense: The preservation of eligibility, coverage, and access to Medicaid remains critically important for many low-income state residents who depend on the program for cancer and chronic disease prevention, as well as early detection, diagnostic, and treatment services. ACS CAN will work to ensure Medicaid enrollees have adequate access and coverage and will oppose proposals that create barriers to care for cancer patients, survivors, and those who could be diagnosed with cancer.
• Affordable, Adequate Health Insurance: ACS CAN will advocate for policies that ensure access to quality, affordable and comprehensive health insurance including Medicaid and will support efforts to curb the availability of inadequate health plans.
• Access to Biomarker Testing: ACS CAN will advocate 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 advances in treatment.
• Reduce Patient Medical Debt: ACS CAN recognizes the impact of medical debt on people with cancer, caregivers and their families. In addition to supporting policies that ensure affordable access to comprehensive healthcare coverage, ACS CAN will advocate for policies that prevent the occurrence of medical debt and reduce the impact of incurred medical debt on individuals and families.
• Paid Family and Medical Leave: ACS CAN will advocate for legislation that ensures all working cancer patients, survivors, and caregivers have access to paid family and medical leave that allows them to take time off work to attend to their own or a loved one’s care without losing their job or income.
• Fertility Preservation: Some cancer treatments can cause infertility and individuals with cancer may choose to preserve their fertility prior to treatment. Failure to preserve fertility is a common regret that may affect survivors’ quality of life. ACS CAN supports legislation that would provide cancer patients with health insurance coverage for fertility preservation consistent with recommended medical guidelines.

Cancer Prevention and Early Detection

• Breast and Cervical Cancer: ACS CAN will advocate to increase funding for Vermont Breast and Cervical Cancer Screening program for low-income uninsured and underinsured women administered by the VT Department of Health.

Reducing the Toll of Tobacco

• 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.

Cancer Research Funding

• Comprehensive Cancer Control Program Funding: ACS CAN will work to protect/increase appropriations for state comprehensive cancer control programs.
• State Cancer registries: ACS CAN will work to protect or increase appropriations to support state cancer registries which provide the data-driven foundation for the state cancer control efforts.

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: Mike Rollo, VT Government Relations Director ACS CAN

[email protected] Phone 603-518-6469

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.