Reducing Health Disparities

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Cancer impacts everyone, but it doesn’t impact everyone equally. We are working to ensure everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. No one should be disadvantaged in their fight against cancer because of how much money they make, the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, their gender identity, their disability status, or where they live.

From ensuring greater diversity among clinical trial participants to improving access to quality, affordable health care, we are asking lawmakers to reduce disparities in cancer care by advancing policies that break down existing barriers.

Black women are 40% more likely to die of breast cancer than white women overall

Latest Updates

January 16, 2025
Arizona

PHOENIX, ARIZ. - A new report released by the American Cancer Society on Thursday revealed a shift in the burden of the disease from men to women. Cases of cancer are declining in men while diagnoses are rising in women, specifically younger women. A continued drop in cancer mortality was also noted in the report, but alarming inequities in cancer rates persist, most notably among Native American and Black people. The report coincides with the beginning of the 2025 legislative session and presents Arizona state lawmakers an opportunity to work with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of ACS, to support cancer prevention, treatment, and access to care.

December 27, 2024
Rhode Island

PROVIDENCE – December 28, 2024 – Starting the first of the year, menthol flavored e-cigarette products will still be on store shelves across Rhode Island. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) and its team of advocates, including cancer survivors and patients, are disappointed with

December 17, 2024
National

Public health groups are applauding the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for upholding the non-discrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the case of Neese v. Becerra. The court vacated a lower court ruling based on the plaintiffs’ lack of standing in the case, which challenged protections in the ACA for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) patients receiving health care services.

December 10, 2024
National

On December 9, the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota granted a preliminary injunction in the case of Kansas v. United States. This decision temporarily blocks the Final Rule issued by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which expands insurance coverage eligibility to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients in 19 states.

Reducing Health Disparities Resources

For 30 years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program has decreased disparities in breast and cervical cancer deaths.

Our latest survey finds that about half of cancer patients and survivors (49%) have incurred medical debt to pay for their cancer care and another 13% expect to incur medical debt as they begin or continue their treatment. Nearly all of those (98%) had health care coverage at the time they accumulated medical debt. This survey also explores the broad health and financial implications of medical debt, how medical debt deepens inequites, and the alarming rate of cancer related medical debt among younger respondents with early diagnoses.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program (NBCCEDP) is highly effective at detecting and treating breast and cervical cancer in low-income, uninsured, and underinsured women – who may otherwise not be screened. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) urges Congress to reauthorize this critical program by passing the Screening for Communities to Receive Early and Equitable Needed Services (SCREENS) for Cancer Act.