2025 State Legislative Priorities

2025 Iowa Legislative Priorities

Victory in the fight against cancer requires bold new public policies that promote cancer prevention, early detection of cancer, and expand access to quality, affordable health care. Lawmakers make many decisions that impact the lives of Iowans impacted by cancer and their leadership is vital to defeating this disease. In 2025 the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) will work with the Iowa General Assembly on legislative and regulatory efforts that provide affordable, adequate access to health insurance including Medicaid, ensure adequate funding for lifesaving cancer screening and prevention programs, and enact prevention policies to protect kids from tobacco products and help support those who are trying to quit. We will be making the following fact-based policies a priority and ask for your support:

Ensuring Access to Quality Care

• Affordable, Adequate Health Insurance: ACS CAN will advocate for policies that ensure access to quality, affordable and comprehensive health insurance including Medicaid and will oppose policies that create burdens to access Medicaid for Iowa’s low-income population.

• Reduce Patient Medical Debt: ACS CAN recognizes the impact of medical debt on people with cancer, caregivers, and their families. ACS CAN will advocate for policies that prevent the occurrence of medical debt and reduce the impact of incurred medical debt on individuals and families.

Cancer Prevention and Early Detection

• Breast and Cervical Cancer: ACS CAN will advocate to maintain funding of $275,000 for Iowa’s Care for Yourself program, the state breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment program for low-income uninsured and underinsured women administered by the Iowa Department of Health.

Reducing the Toll of Tobacco

• Tobacco Taxes: ACS CAN will advocate to increase the cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack with a parallel tax on all other tobacco products to 50% of the whole sale price, to parallel the new cigarette tax rate. Increasing the price of cigarettes and all other tobacco products through regular and significant tobacco tax increases helps prevent kids from starting to use tobacco and helps support people who are trying to quit.  
• Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Funding: ACS CAN will work to maintain funding for fact-based, statewide tobacco prevention and cessation programs at $4.02 million.  This funding will allow the program to fund the life-saving programs and combat Big-Tobacco.

Cancer Research Funding

• Research Appropriations: Improvements in outcomes for cancer patients require continued research and innovation. ACS CAN will work to increase state appropriations to support scientific research on prevention and cutting-edge treatments.
• Comprehensive Cancer Control Program Funding: ACS CAN will work to protect appropriations for state comprehensive cancer control programs.