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 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.

March 3, 2026
South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Around 50 cancer survivors, patients and advocates with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) will come from around the state for “Suits and Sneakers” Cancer Action Day at the State House on Wednesday, March 4. The event is an annual highlight as lawmakers

Access to Health Insurance Resources

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Pub. Law No. 119-21) prohibits states from auto-enrolling people into Marketplace plans (regardless of whether the Marketplace is state-based or federally run).

Our latest survey finds that 86% of those receiving enhanced premium tax credits would have difficulty getting care if the credits expire at the end of 2025, and very few (25%) are aware of the enhanced credits expiring.

In our latest survey, cancer patients and survivors overwhelmingly support extending financial assistance for people who purchase health coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace by a margin of nearly 12 to 1 (72% support, 6% oppose). The survey also finds 43% would not be able to afford their plan without the enhanced tax credits, 30% would skip or delay medical care to reduce expenses, and 24% would accumulate medical debt to afford their care.