2025 Oklahoma Legislative Priorities

2025 Oklahoma Legislative Priorities

Victory in the fight against cancer requires bold public policy solutions that promote cancer prevention, increase early detection of cancer, expand access to quality, affordable health care, reduce disparities and advance health equity. State and local lawmakers’ decisions impact the lives of those affected by cancer. In 2025, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) will work with members of the Oklahoma Legislature to prioritize state and local legislative and regulatory efforts that provide affordable, adequate access to health insurance including Medicaid; insurance coverage of needed services; evidence-based prevention policies including tobacco prevention policies; ensure adequate funding for lifesaving cancer screening and prevention programs; and enact prevention policies to protect kids from tobacco products and to help support those who are trying to quit. These fact-based priorities include: 

Ensuring Access to Quality Care

• Genetic Testing Access: ACS CAN will advocate for policies that ensure access to clinically necessary genetic testing for cancer risk, without cost sharing.  

• Prescription Drug Transparency: ACS CAN will continue to support legislation that allows cancer patients and all health consumers to know which drugs are covered and what their out-of-pocket costs will be for those drugs before buying a health insurance plan.   

• Affordable, Adequate Health Insurance: ACS CAN will advocate for policies that ensure access to quality, affordable and comprehensive health insurance including Medicaid and will support efforts to curb the availability of inadequate health plans. 

Cancer Prevention and Early Detection

• Breast and Cervical Cancer: ACS CAN will advocate to increase funding  for Oklahoma Cares, the state breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment program for low-income uninsured and underinsured women administered by the Oklahoma State Department of Health. 

• Colorectal Cancer: ACS CAN will work to ensure health plans cover colorectal cancer screening beginning at age 45 in accordance with updated American Cancer Society and United States Preventive Services Task Force guidelines and ensure patients are not charged for colonoscopies that follow a positive stool-based test.  

Reducing the Toll of Tobacco

• Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding:  ACS CAN will work to maintain funding for fact-based, statewide tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Maintaining current funding will allow the program to further the state’s progress in reducing overall rates of tobacco use and devote additional resources to programs to reduce rates of e-cigarette use among young Oklahomans.  

• Tobacco Taxes: ACS CAN will advocate for an increase in the cigarette tax of $1.50 per pack, with an equivalent tax on all other tobacco products.  

• Access to Tobacco Cessation: ACS CAN will advocate for all insurance plans, including the state Medicaid program, to provide a comprehensive cessation benefit that covers individual, group, and telephone counseling and all FDA-approved tobacco cessation medications without cost-sharing or other barriers to accessing care. 

Cancer Research Funding

• Comprehensive Cancer Control Program Funding: ACS CAN will work to protect/increase appropriations for state comprehensive cancer control programs.

Local Control

• Local governments are uniquely positioned to meet the needs of the people in their communities. ACS CAN supports their ability to pass laws that are proven to promote good health, well-being, and equality. Preserving local control is needed to pass innovative and proactive public health policies. ACS CAN works at the local, state, and federal levels; thus, it supports each level of government’s ability to implement policies for cleaner, safer, healthier communities. The right of local governments to pass public health policies stronger than state laws must be preserved to continue future advocacy efforts to reduce suffering and death from cancer.

For more information, contact:

Matt Glanville, Oklahoma and Arkansas Government Relations Director, ACS CAN 

[email protected] 405.301.6311

ACS CAN is making cancer a top priority for public officials and candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. ACS CAN empowers advocates across the country to make their voices heard and influence evidence-based public policy change as well as legislative and regulatory solutions that will reduce the cancer burden. As the American Cancer Society’s nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate, ACS CAN is critical to the fight for a world without cancer. For more information, please visit www.fightcancer.org.