Increased Access to Medicaid

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Where you live should not determine whether you live. But, for millions of low-income Americans, the state they live in could determine if they have access to health services, including cancer care.  To date, 40 states and the District of Columbia have increased access to their Medicaid programs, providing more than twelve million individuals and families access to health care coverage and to lifesaving tests like mammograms, colonoscopies and other cancer screenings. 

We are working in the remaining 10 states to reach the day when everyone has access to affordable health care.  Going to the doctor is much cheaper than going to the emergency room. And, for a family, preventing cancer is much less expensive than treating it. 

We know how to save lives from cancer.  And we know how to save money on health care costs.  Ensuring that low-income working families have access to affordable health insurance – especially during tough times – is an important first step.  

  

40 states have increased access to health care through Medicaid, helping provide twelve million Americans with access to lifesaving cancer care.

Latest Updates

May 23, 2023
Arkansas

Today, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network submitted public comment opposing Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s proposed changes to ARHOME, which would require over 300,000 Arkansans to report work and community activities to the state to remain eligible for their current Medicaid coverage.

May 23, 2023
Arkansas

Today, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network submitted public comment opposing Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s proposed changes to ARHOME, which would require over 300,000 Arkansans to report work and community activities to the state to remain eligible for their current Medicaid coverage.

May 4, 2023
Kansas

TOPEKA, Kan . – Last week, the Kansas State Legislature completed another session and left the critical issue of Medicaid expansion unresolved, despite bipartisan support from state voters to do so. State legislators are going on an 8-month break at the same time the state is restarting eligibility redeterminations for

April 26, 2023
National

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives, in a 217-215 vote, passed the Limit, Save, Grow Act, advancing provisions that would greatly restrict access to affordable care and risk progress in the fight against cancer.

Increased Access to Medicaid Resources

ACS CAN submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regarding its 2022 Request for Information on Access to Coverage and Care in Medicaid & CHIP. Our comments address suggested improvements in Medicaid enrollment and eligibility determination, transitions of coverage, national standards for access to care, and the eventual end of the public health emergency and continuous coverage provisions.

ACS CAN submitted comments in support of the renewal of Oregon's 1115 Medicaid waiver, including the state's proposal of continuous coverage provisions for children and adults. However, ACS CAN strongly objects to the state's proposal to limit Medicaid coverage of drugs approved through the accelerated approval process, and urges CMS to reject this part of the waiver request.