Access to Health Insurance

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As Congress considers changes to the Affordable Care Act, and as recently passed cuts to affordable health care take effect, we are committed to safeguarding the patient protections that are so important to cancer patients and survivors, and ensuring insurance coverage is truly affordable.  

We can never go back to the day when cancer patients couldn’t get health insurance coverage because they exceeded a lifetime limit or are denied coverage just because they survived cancer.  And, we must ensure they don’t experience any gap in their health insurance coverage and that their policies are truly affordable.

A study conducted by the American Cancer Society showed that people who are uninsured or underinsured are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at its more advanced stages when treatment is more expensive and patients are more likely to die from the disease.

Latest Updates

March 31, 2026
Idaho

BOISE, Idaho –– The Idaho Senate today took another damaging step toward stripping health care coverage from tens of thousands of Idahoans by passing House Bill 913, placing additional government red tape on federally mandated work-reporting requirements. The vote is another in a long series of legislative actions taken against

March 23, 2026
Idaho

BOISE, Idaho –– Taking health care coverage from Idahoans continues to be a top priority for the Idaho Legislature as it works towards closing the 2026 session. House Bill 913 is yet another destructive bill that would strip insurance from our hard-working friends and neighbors and implement onerous government paperwork

March 13, 2026
National

This week, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network submitted comments in a letter opposing several policies in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters proposed rule for plan year 2027.

March 12, 2026
Virginia

The General Assembly has approved Senate Bill 161/House Bill 625, a bipartisan proposal to provide Virginians with the option to choose insurance plans with flat-dollar copays for prescription drugs. This would ensure that health plans do not solely rely on coinsurance models where patients are forced to pay a percentage of their medication’s cost. Leading patient advocacy organizations, including the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) and Blood Cancer United (formerly The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society), applaud Virginia lawmakers for passing this critical legislation to ensure patients have affordable and predictable access to life-saving treatment. It now heads to Governor Spanberger’s desk, where over a dozen organizations across the Commonwealth are urging her signature.

Access to Health Insurance Resources

Current federal law has several provisions that help prevent individuals and families from experiencing gaps in their health insurance coverage.  Coverage gaps can delay necessary care, which is particularly detrimental to cancer patients and survivors.  Preventing gaps in coverage is a crucial patient protection that must be maintained in our health care and insurance system.

Our latest Survivor Views survey finds nearly three in four cancer patients and survivors who rely on the marketplace for comprehensive coverage stand to lose access to lifesaving care if the enhanced premium tax credits are not extended. Additionally, one quarter of those who rely on the enhanced health care tax credits report that if the credits expire, they will become uninsured or forced into a non-comprehensive "junk" plan.

Access to affordable health insurance is crucial for individuals to receive necessary care, especially for those with chronic conditions like cancer.