This is a win for cancer patients and their families. The final deal protects access to quality, affordable health insurance for millions covered by Medicaid without including ineffective work requirements. It also avoids drastic cuts to spending and limits caps that could have substantially affected federal funding for cancer research.
The patient voice was heard loud and clear. ACS CAN volunteers helped move the needle forward during negotiations and made cancer a priority for lawmakers, sending more than 25,000 messages and making thousands of calls to key Senate offices!
We remain concerned about the impact of discretionary budget caps on sustained funding for cancer research and future progress, so we are renewing our call on Congress to prioritize robust cancer research funding for the NIH, the NCI, and the CDC’s cancer prevention and control programs in the upcoming appropriation bill.
After months of delay and hard negotiations, Congress has finally passed a funding bill! The bill includes a small increase for cancer research and prevention programs.