​Campaign results in debt ceiling deal passing without Medicaid work requirements.

The night of June 1, the Senate passed H.R. 3746 The Fiscal Responsibility Act, leaving out dangerous provisions that could have had substantial and negative impact on cancer. The debt ceiling legislation is a two-year budget deal that would raise the debt limit until Jan. 1, 2025. The final legislation did not include Medicaid work requirements or cuts to research funding, which are significant wins for the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN). The organization relentlessly advocated for rejection of Medicaid work requirements and cuts to research funding as part of its ongoing advocacy efforts to reduce the cancer burden. The bill now heads to President Biden, who is expected to sign it into law. 

In the lead-up to the debt ceiling negotiations, ACS CAN quickly mobilized and ran an intensive, multifaceted advocacy campaign that focused on two important asks for lawmakers: to reject ineffective Medicaid work requirements and to not create 2024 budget appropriations provisions that threaten sustained federal investment in cancer research and critical cancer programs.

To ensure the patient voice was heard, ACS CAN volunteers nationwide took immediate action to call, visit, and write to their lawmakers, urging them to make cancer a priority. Volunteers made 4,130 calls and sent more than 25,000 messages to key Senate offices with a clear message to protect access to comprehensive, affordable health coverage in Medicaid and prevent cuts to federal funding for cancer research.

ACS CAN’s reach was robust as volunteers amplified their voices across social media channels with the hashtag #NoCutstoCuresorCare. Volunteers also placed letters to the editor (LTEs) to help spread the word in critical targeted Congressional districts located in North Carolina, Wisconsin, Utah, Nevada, West Virginia and Arizona.

Additionally, ACS CAN organized and launched an advertising campaign with a call to action, “Tell Congress: Don’t Negotiate with Cancer.”  Digital banner ads were featured in The Washington Post, Politico and The New York Times. ACS CAN also ran digital and print ads in the targeted states of Maine, West Virginia, Alaska, Utah, Arizona, Montana and North Carolina, in addition to LinkedIn and Facebook ads targeting the Washington, DC policymaker audience. 

While emphasizing the advocacy impact on the debt ceiling legislation averted more troubling provisions, ACS CAN President Lisa A. Lacasse noted the organization remains concerned about the implications of discretionary budget caps on sustained funding for cancer research and future progress against cancer and called on Congress to prioritize cancer research funding in the FY24 budget appropriations process.

“It is clear lawmakers responded to ACS CAN volunteers’ relentless advocacy to ensure the patient voice was heard,” she said. “With the passage of this legislation, we renew our call on Congress to prioritize robust cancer research funding including $51 billion at the National Institutes of Health, $9.9 billion at the National Cancer Institute, and $472.4 million for cancer prevention and control programs in the FY24 Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations Bill.”