Learn. Speak. Act
International recording artist and poet, Michael "MIKE-E" Ellison


Access to Care 101
Learn more about the access to health care issue, why it matters, and what the Society is doing about the problem.


Access to Care 201
This video illustrates the importance of providing access to health care for the uninsured and undersinsured and what the American Cancer Society is doing to help. It addresses some of the questions that have arisen since the organization's campaign began in September 2007.

We’re Taking Action

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network:
Working Toward Quality Cancer Care for All

The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN), the sister advocacy organization to the American Cancer Society, has launched a major initiative to make the issue of access to health care a state and national priority. From passing laws improving access to life-saving screenings to ensuring the ongoing development of new cancer treatments, ACS CAN is dedicated to making meaningful access to health care a reality in this country.

Increased Government Funding of Cancer Research
Too many potential life-saving cancer screenings and treatments never make it to the doctor’s office because there is not enough funding for cancer research. Recent cuts in the budgets of key federal agencies overseeing cancer research threaten to reverse the progress we have made in the fight against cancer. ACS CAN is a national leader in pushing Congress to increase funding for cancer and medical research.

Ensuring All Women Have Access to Mammograms
Today, only 1 in 5 eligible women have access to a federal program that provides lifesaving breast and cervical cancer screenings. That’s why ACS CAN actively—and successfully—pushed Congress for reauthorization and additional funding for this program—the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.

Guarantee Access to the Most Effective Colon Cancer Screenings
Colon cancer is the third leading cause of cancer deaths among both men and women in this country, but it doesn’t have to be. ACS CAN and the American Cancer Society have worked extensively at the state level to ensure that patients have access to the full range of colon cancer screenings, including colonoscopy. ACS CAN is also pushing a bill in Congress to provide the uninsured and underinsured increased access to these lifesaving screenings.

Pain and Palliative Care
Too many cancer patients and survivors live in pain. ACS CAN is a driving force behind federal legislation that would improve pain care research, education, training, and access. ACS CAN also works in partnerships at the state level to enact laws that expand access to the full range of palliative care services.

Defining Meaningful Health Insurance

The question that defines the Society’s access to care work is simple: What constitutes meaningful insurance? We convened a policy review group to answer that question. We define meaningful insurance as:

  • Adequate—Timely access to the full range of evidence-based health care, including prevention and early detection.
  • Affordable—Costs are based on the person’s ability to pay.
  • Available—Coverage is available regardless of health status or prior claims.
  • Administratively simple—Processes are easy to understand and navigate.

In addition to ensuring that a health care plan includes these critical components, the Society’s position is that health care reform proposals must reduce or eliminate “segmentation” of the health insurance market. Insurance companies should not be allowed to cover only the healthiest applicants, leaving individuals with actual or perceived health risks without coverage. A good health care reform plan must spread costs equitably among all of those seeking insurance, whether they are healthy or not.

Finally, the Society is working to ensure that health care reform proposals include financing that is realistic and adequate to sustain the proposed reforms.

American Cancer Society Services and Programs

Since its founding in 1913, the American Cancer Society has grown to become the world’s largest voluntary health organization. The Society has built its reputation on the information and resources it offers to cancer patients, caregivers, survivors, and their families, much of which is geared toward improving access to care.

Eliminating Disparities
Despite extraordinary progress in the fight against cancer in recent years, members of racial and ethnic minority groups continue to face inadequate access to lifesaving cancer prevention information, early detection testing, and high-quality treatment. The Society considers this unacceptable and has set a goal of eliminating disparities in the cancer burden. Efforts include hosting conferences that inform and educate the professionals and advocates who are working to eliminate disparities, as well as providing research funding to investigators working with the medically underserved.

National Cancer Information Center
Whether they know what they need or are not even sure where to start, a call to the Society’s 24-hour, toll-free information service can be a critical step in helping people facing cancer understand their disease and decide how to overcome it. Trained cancer information specialists are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to answer questions about cancer and to link callers with resources in their communities.

American Cancer Society Patient Navigator Program
Without adequate insurance or a solid support system, many people with cancer don’t know where to turn for help. Obstacles such as lack of transportation, childcare, and money may prevent them from getting access to the care they need. But when a trained patient navigator is on-site at the medical facility, he or she can help patients, survivors, and caregivers connect to Society programs and services, as well as identify local resources that can help. And a one-on-one relationship with a patient navigator can help people touched by cancer understand that they are not in this fight alone.

Cancer Resource Network
When a cancer diagnosis prompts scores of questions about what will happen next, the American Cancer Society Cancer Resource Network provides cutting-edge cancer information from the nation’s most trusted cancer resource —because in the fight against cancer, knowledge is power. The Cancer Resource Network helps patients, survivors, and caregivers navigate the cancer experience, with a focus on the medically underserved. This comprehensive network provides services online, on the phone, and in person that can help people connect with Society programs and services, get more information about cancer and its treatment, identify a clinical trial, and find local cancer resources.