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

December 19, 2025
National

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With Congress done for the year without extending the enhanced premium tax credits that are set to expire on December 31, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) urges members of the Senate and the House to prioritize the health and wellbeing of their

December 10, 2025
National

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the deadline approaches for people to enroll in Marketplace coverage that starts January 1, 2026, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is urging the Senate and the House to come together in a bipartisan way to pass legislation extending the enhanced premium

December 2, 2025
National

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) today released results from a survey exploring the impact of the enhanced premium tax credits on cancer patients and survivors who rely on the Marketplace for comprehensive health insurance coverage.

November 17, 2025
National

Today, ACS CAN released its first "Eye on Cancer Care" piece, which focuses on the dangers of the availability of “junk plans” that fail to provide the protections and health insurance coverage that cancer patients, survivors and those at risk of the disease need.

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.