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

January 15, 2026
Washington

OLYMPIA, Wash. – As Washington residents face soaring health insurance costs and hundreds of thousands at risk of losing life-saving coverage, volunteer advocates of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network will ask lawmakers on Wednesday to use the 2026 legislative session to preserve access to Medicaid and Medicaid expansion.

January 14, 2026
Idaho

BOISE, Idaho – As Idahoans face soaring health care insurance costs and thousands at risk of losing life-saving coverage, volunteer advocates of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network are urging state lawmakers to use the 2026 legislative session to tackle the root causes of affordability and preserve access to

January 12, 2026
South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. – January 12, 2026 – Today, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster released his 2026 budget, which included $350 million for a new facility at MUSC Hollings Cancer Center. In response, Beth Johnson, regional government relations director with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), released

January 8, 2026
National

Following today’s bipartisan House vote on extending the enhanced tax credits, ACS CAN is once again calling on members of the Senate and the House to prioritize the health and wellbeing of their constituents and come together in a bipartisan, bicameral way to extend the enhanced premium tax credits immediately.

Access to Health Insurance Resources

Having affordable and comprehensive health insurance coverage is a key determinant for surviving cancer.

Cancer patients and survivors must balance reducing their health care costs with ensuring they have comprehensive coverage of services, treatments, and care providers.

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.