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 over 21 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

March 21, 2024
Georgia

ATLANTA, Georgia – March 21, 2024 – The Georgia Senate’s regulated industries committee failed to pass HB 1077 today in a tied vote. The bill would have cleared the way for a customized solution to closing the coverage gap in Georgia. PeachCare Plus would help nearly 450,000 Georgians access

March 20, 2024
National

As one of the leading patient advocacy groups that advocated for the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is celebrating the impact of the historic law ahead of its 14th anniversary on Saturday. ACS CAN is marking the milestone by urging Congress, state lawmakers and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to protect and strengthen the critical patient protections of the ACA.

March 14, 2024
Georgia

The Georgia Senate passed H.B. 1339 today, which in part forms a health care coverage commission. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) urges Georgia lawmakers to recognize the study commission as an insufficient solution for the health care coverage gap that currently puts more than 400,000 Georgians at risk.

March 13, 2024
Wisconsin

Statement from American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Wisconsin Government Relations Director Sara Sahli MADISON, Wis. – “As lawmakers close the 2023/2024 legislative session, their policies on easing the burden of cancer are decidedly mixed for the nearly 40,000 Wisconsinites who

Increased Access to Medicaid Resources

An increasing number of states are seeking greater flexibility in administering their Medicaid programs. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) give states the opportunity to test innovative or alternative approaches to providing health care coverage to their Medicaid populations through Section 1115 Research and Demonstration Waivers (otherwise known as "1115 waivers"). States must demonstrate that their waivers promote the objectives of the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) and CMS must use general criteria to determine whether the objectives of the Medicaid/CHIP programs are met.

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