Breakthrough treatments are transforming what it means to receive a blood cancer diagnosis for hundreds of thousands of people across the country, giving patients and families back years of life together and helping survivors live longer, healthier lives. Accessing these new treatments requires high-quality health insurance—without that, a cancer diagnosis can come with an impossible financial burden. That’s why LLS advocates to protect and expand access to comprehensive, high-quality affordable health insurance. For millions, Medicaid is that crucial source of coverage—and we want to be sure it is there for every patient who needs it.
But if you follow the latest headlines, you have probably seen news about potential cuts to Medicaid. Congress is currently debating major changes to the Medicaid program to pay for other legislative priorities. A budget bill recently passed by the House of Representatives requires the committee that oversees Medicaid to find hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to the program.
We have grave concerns about these proposed cuts. If enacted, they would force many patients with blood cancers out of the Medicaid program, leaving them without access to the cancer care they need. Patients with low incomes would be hit the hardest since they typically aren’t offered affordable insurance through an employer and don’t have access to federal premium tax credits to purchase marketplace coverage.
Medicaid is one of our most cost-effective health coverage programs and is the only comprehensive coverage option for many cancer patients. While LLS is deeply interested in rooting out waste and fraud that undermine patients’ access to care, none of the proposals that have been publicly discussed target waste or fraud. Some are simply across-the-board cuts, others add unnecessary red tape. We are actively engaged in finding opportunities to improve Medicaid, but a massive, abrupt cut that would cause many cancer patients to lose the only support they can access is not the right answer.
In recent years, we have been actively engaged in successful efforts to expand Medicaid and protect it from policies that threaten it. Medicaid expansion has opened the door to health coverage for millions of low-income individuals previously left behind—including blood cancer patients. However, if these proposed cuts to Medicaid take hold, decades of progress could soon unravel.
What is Medicaid?
Medicaid is the healthcare program that covers low-income people in the United States. It ensures access to essential care for more than 70 million children, older adults, people with disabilities, pregnant and postpartum women, and adults with very low incomes. More than half of adults across the political spectrum have relied on Medicaid or had a family member or close friend covered by Medicaid. Because of this, Medicaid is an incredibly popular program: 64% of Republicans, 81% of Independents, and 88% of Democrats say Medicaid works well for most low-income people.
As a pediatric oncologist, I have seen firsthand how important Medicaid is to blood cancer patients and their families. Medicaid provides critical coverage, especially for young adults and those who can no longer work during treatment or who must take time off to be with their parent or child who has been diagnosed. Approximately half of all kids in the U.S. are insured via Medicaid, and most children with cancer rely on Medicaid to cover the cost of their treatment.
At LLS, we know that Medicaid is often the only option patients have for healthcare. DeAnna, an LLS volunteer from North Carolina, is one of those patients. She needed a stem cell transplant to treat her blood cancer. Unfortunately, her cancer treatment left her unable to work. She finally received coverage through North Carolina’s Medicaid expansion in 2024. She’s alive today because of Medicaid.
What changes to Medicaid are being considered?
The Committee in charge of Medicaid must find hundreds of billions of dollars in cuts to the program. Put simply: There is no way to find these dollars without cutting patient benefits, limiting access to the program, or revoking Medicaid coverage altogether. Changes under discussion include enacting a cap on how much the federal government will pay for each person, cutting back on the federal dollars that help states afford Medicaid expansion, limiting how states can pay for their share of the Medicaid program, and instituting reporting requirements about people’s work and caregiving responsibilities.
What would these changes to Medicaid mean?
The impact cannot be overstated: these changes would result in people losing health coverage. Regarding just one of these proposed cuts, a prominent Republican governor recently told health leaders in Congress: “This change alone could result in a $1.85 billion loss in federal funds over the next two years […]. Nevada could not absorb a federal funding loss of this magnitude without major cuts to Medicaid and other state programs.” He estimated that change alone would result in 300,000 people in Nevada losing coverage. Expert analysis suggests that same change would result in 20 million people losing coverage across the United States.
What is LLS doing?
These proposed cuts are deeply concerning to LLS: We oppose any policy that would cause patients to lose access to the health coverage they need to stay alive. To prevent these harmful cuts, LLS’s Office of Public Policy is working to educate Members of Congress about the importance of Medicaid for blood cancer patients. We are co-leading a coalition of 40+ national patient advocacy groups working to stop harmful Medicaid cuts at the federal and state levels. In some states, LLS aims to convince lawmakers to abandon plans already in motion to reduce access to Medicaid. And in other states, LLS is continuing to make the case to expand Medicaid so more patients can get the care they need.
How you can help
As a cancer doctor and leader of a patient organization, I know how unpredictable life can be. Medicaid was created to be there for people when the unexpected happens – a cancer diagnosis, a layoff leading to the loss of health insurance, a worldwide pandemic. If the proposed Medicaid cuts advance, it would be devastating to blood cancer patients and tens of millions of people across the country.
Our message to Congress is clear: Protect patients. Don’t cut healthcare. But we need your help getting it across to Congress. If Medicaid has been there for you or your family—or if you want to help--I encourage you to become an LLS advocate. Join our advocacy list (lls.org/advocacy) and encourage friends and family members to sign up. It’s very easy – just a few clicks – but it can have an enormous impact. And be sure to like and share our posts on social media (follow “LLS Advocacy” on Facebook and X).
Medicaid protects blood cancer patients. Now, we need to protect Medicaid.