Access to Health Insurance

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As Congress considers changes to the Affordable Care Act, it is critically important that lawmakers maintain the patient protections that are so important to cancer patients and survivors, and ensure 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.

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Sign the petition to help protect affordable health care

Countless cancer patients and survivors have benefits from patient protections in the health care law. Sign now to urge Congress to keep and strengthen comprehensive, affordable health coverage

Latest Updates

January 13, 2025
Georgia

ATLANTA, Ga. – As Georgia lawmakers reconvene for the 2025 legislative session, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) looks forward to working with them to prioritize legislation to ease the burden of cancer on Georgians. The following is a statement from Fabienne Antoine-Nasser , Georgia government relations

January 8, 2025
Maryland

The following is a statement from American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Maryland Government Relations Director Lance Kilpatrick: “In 2024, Maryland state lawmakers heard from advocates across the disease spectrum and from every corner of the state, who united together to send a resounding message: improve access to lifesaving medication. Though the legislature did not advance the proposal to prohibit the use of copay accumulator adjustment programs, advocates are hopeful that lawmakers won’t miss the same opportunity in 2025.

January 8, 2025
Montana

HELENA, Mont. – Tens of thousands of Montanans are counting on lawmakers to protect their access to health care as business convenes this week in the state capitol. Montana’s Medicaid expansion is set to expire on June 30, 2025, if not extended. Its reauthorization is a crucial agenda item for

January 3, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C.— January 3, 2025 — “ As the 119 th Congress convenes today, ACS CAN is urging members to keep cancer patients and survivors at the core of every health policy decision, from funding cancer research to ensuring access to quality, affordable health coverage. “Every major breakthrough in the

Access to Health Insurance Resources

Short-term limited duration (STLD) insurance plans do not provide the kind of comprehensive insurance coverage cancer patients need.  These plans were designed only as temporary coverage and are not subject to the same Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements as other health insurance products on the market.  As a result, an enrollee who was attracted to the plan’s lower premiums may find – if they are diagnosed with a serious illness like cancer – that the plan does not cover all of their necessary cancer treatments.  In these cases, the consumer can be left with catastrophic costs.

Many patients with complex diseases like cancer find it difficult to afford their treatments – even when they have health insurance.  Current law establishes a limit on what most private insurance plans can require enrollees to pay in out-of-pocket costs.  These limits protect patients from extremely high costs and are essential to any health care system that works for cancer patients and survivors.

 

High deductible health plans (HDHPs) and health savings accounts (HSAs) are becoming more common in employer-sponsored insurance and the individual and small group markets.  These types of plans have risks and features must be implemented carefully so they do not harm cancer patients, survivors or those at risk for cancer.