Public Policy Resources

A critical factor for eliminating disparities and ensuring health equity is the guarantee that all people have access to quality, affordable health care.

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) believes everyone should have a fair and just opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer. No one should be disadvantaged in their fight against cancer because of income, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, or where they live. From preventive screening and early detection, through diagnosis and treatment, and into survivorship, there are several factors that influence cancer disparities among different populations across the cancer continuum.

In 2003, Congress passed the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA), which created an outpatient prescription drug benefit in the Medicare program. Known as Part D, the prescription benefit is operated exclusively through private insurance plans that contract with Medicare. To ensure that beneficiaries have coverage for the drugs they need Part D plans are required to cover at least two drugs in each therapeutic class. A therapeutic class is a group of medications that are used to treat the same condition. 

Our latest Survivor Views survey sees increases in biomarker testing since the question was last asked three years ago along with reduced cost and coverage barriers in that time. Cancer patients and survivors describe the benefits and overwhelmingly agree biomarker testing gave their providers information that improved their treatment. 

The nation’s drug shortage crisis continues to affect cancer patients and survivors with 1 in every 10 (10%) reporting impacts to care, a majority of whom have had difficulties finding substitute medications (68%) and cited treatment delays (45%).

ACS CAN and partner organizations provided comments on the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program: Considerations for Selected Oncology Drugs.

ACS CAN strongly advocated for inclusion in the Inflation Reduction Act of both an annual cap on total Part D out-of-pocket costs and a mechanism that would allow an enrollee the option to pay the required cost-sharing in capped monthly installments because we know from research that hig

ACS and ACS CAN provided comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on the list of Part D drugs selected for the price negotiation program authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).