Access to Health Insurance

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As Congress considers changes to the Affordable Care Act, it is critically important that lawmakers maintain the patient protections that are so important to cancer patients and survivors, and ensure insurance coverage is truly affordable.  

We can never go back to the day when cancer patients couldn’t get health insurance coverage because they exceeded a lifetime limit or are denied coverage just because they survived cancer.  And, we must ensure they don’t experience any gap in their health insurance coverage and that their policies are truly affordable.

A study conducted by the American Cancer Society showed that people who are uninsured or underinsured are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at its more advanced stages when treatment is more expensive and patients are more likely to die from the disease.

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Another Chance to Vote NO on Medicaid Cuts

 

The House is about to vote on the Senate-passed version of the bill, including drastic cuts to Medicaid that countless cancer patients rely on, for signature. Call your Reps today and urge them to vote NO.
 

Latest Updates

April 9, 2025
National

This week, the U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote on a budget resolution that could lead to devastating cuts to Medicaid.

April 8, 2025
North Dakota

BISMARCK, N.D. -– Prior authorization reform legislation cleared the House on Tuesday and state cancer advocates look forward to the North Dakota State Senate concurring and Gov. Kelly Armstrong signing Senate Bill 2280 into law. For the more than 4,500 North Dakotans who will be diagnosed with cancer in 2025,

April 4, 2025
Georgia

ATLANTA – April 4, 2025 – As Georgia lawmakers wrap up the 2025 legislative session Friday, patient advocacy organization leaders with the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the American Heart Association (AHA), the American Lung Association and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) have released the following

April 3, 2025
Mississippi

JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi legislature wrapped its 2025 session today, leaving Mississippians once again vulnerable and without a solution to the health care coverage crisis. In response, Mississippi Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Kimberly Hughes released the following statement: “We

Access to Health Insurance Resources

Cancer patients and survivors must balance reducing their health care costs with ensuring they have comprehensive coverage of services, treatments, and care providers.

Short-term limited duration (STLD) insurance plans do not provide the kind of comprehensive insurance coverage cancer patients need.  These plans were designed only as temporary coverage and are not subject to the same Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirements as other health insurance products on the market.  As a result, an enrollee who was attracted to the plan’s lower premiums may find – if they are diagnosed with a serious illness like cancer – that the plan does not cover all of their necessary cancer treatments.  In these cases, the consumer can be left with catastrophic costs.

Many patients with complex diseases like cancer find it difficult to afford their treatments – even when they have health insurance.  Current law establishes a limit on what most private insurance plans can require enrollees to pay in out-of-pocket costs.  These limits protect patients from extremely high costs and are essential to any health care system that works for cancer patients and survivors.