Jen Fox
Associate Director, Federal Media Advocacy
ACS CAN: Final Rule for Many Private Health Insurance Plans Would Have Life-Threatening Consequences for Cancer Patients and Survivors
May 18, 2026
Late Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP) for plan year 2027. In March, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) submitted comments in a letter to HHS and CMS opposing several policies in the NBPP for plan year 2027.
The below is a statement on the rule from Lisa A. Lacasse, president of ACS CAN:
“ACS CAN is very concerned that the NBPP final rule will create more confusion for clinicians and patients, higher unexpected costs for patients, interrupted access to providers and, as a result, lead to worse cancer outcomes for individuals.
“Cancer prevention and early detection are critical in reducing suffering and death from cancer and this rule could undermine those efforts. By forcing retroactive defrayal and pushing costs onto budget-strained states to maintain or enact new laws that improve coverage of lifesaving cancer prevention, early detection and treatment services, this rule threatens access to new innovations in cancer care. The rule also allows the availability of no-network plans which could lead to patients facing unexpected upfront costs that could make seeking cancer treatment, known to be highly expensive, impossible to afford.
“Overall, this final rule will weaken patient protections, jeopardize access to health care for millions of people and make individuals more vulnerable to financial hardship due to unanticipated health care costs for conditions like cancer.”
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