By Elridge D. Proctor, MPA, Senior Director, Government Affairs, GO2 for Lung Cancer

Current landscape 

As we enter 2026, we reflect on the impact that government decisions are having on communities across the nation, especially our own, as lung cancer continues to change lives forever. Many of you are coping with fear and anxiety of uncertainty while you wait for things to change, and some of you may be grieving from losing someone far too soon. We want you to know that we are with you, and that GO2 is your friend. 

Whether you are newly diagnosed or years into survivorship, our strength comes from standing together. We invite you to read this 2025 advocacy recap to recharge and enter this new year with purpose and renewed energy. 

Lung Cancer Voices Summit 

We are pleased to share that the 2026 Lung Cancer Voices Summit will be held in partnership with organizations and advocates across the full spectrum of the lung cancer community. Together, we will deliver a clear message to Congress that continued investment in lung cancer research, awareness, and support saves lives.

Register now through January 23, 2026, to make your voice heard. The Fundraising Challenge is available to help everyone make it to the Summit. Register today.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to making this year’s summit an inspiring movement.

Engage early in the new year 

January is the perfect time to schedule meetings in your elected officials’ local offices or to attend events where they will be present. These conversations are crucial in showing why lung cancer research must remain a national priority. Your voice is powerful. Tell elected officials that continued investment matters and delivers meaningful, wide-ranging benefits for public health and our communities. 

Advocacy tools to support your efforts 

GO2 is pleased to provide our lung cancer advocacy toolkit, designed for both digital and print use. This toolkit will support your advocacy year-round and will continue to be updated ahead of next year’s Summit. Inside you will find:

Legislative update 

Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Appropriations summary 

Following the end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history—43 days—the budget agreement now extends through January 30, 2026. Once again, final action is required on 9 of the 12 federal appropriations bills.  

As we prepare for Congress to act on concurrent budgets next year, we will continue advocating together to turn these challenges into meaningful action for our community. 

Here is a recap on where the budget stands. In July 2025, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved its FY 2026 Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) bills with modest increases for the following agencies:

  • $48.7B for the National Institutes of Health (NIH): a $400M increase 
  • $7.374B for the National Cancer Institute (NCI): a $150M increase 
  • $1.5B for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H): level-funded 

 GO2 will continue its advocacy to request the highest possible funding levels for our research agencies in FY 2026 appropriations. 

The Lung Cancer Research Program (LCRP) 

The Senate did not designate specific funding for the LCRP, keeping lung cancer within the Peer-Reviewed Cancer Research Program, where 24 cancers compete for a total of $130M. 

The House passed the defense appropriations bill, which preserved the LCRP as a stand-alone line item but funded it at $15M, significantly lower than the $25M enacted last year. The House also funded the overall CDMRP at $700M, a steep drop from the $1.5B provided in FY 2024. 

In response, GO2 issued a statement to appropriation committee leaders, urging them to increase Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) funding and to specifically allocate $60M for the LCRP in FY 2026. 

GO2 will continue working collaboratively with the Defense Health Research Consortium to protect and restore medical research programs within the Department of Defense (DoD). This includes supporting the Medical Research for Our Troops Act (H.R. 3906) to fully restore CDMRP funding after it was cut by 57% in FY 2025 continuing appropriations law. 

Reconciliation Tax Bill (H.R. 1): Impact on Medicaid and lung cancer

This summer marked the end of a long reconciliation process when President Trump signed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (H.R. 1) into law. Read GO2’s statement on the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

Summary of the expected impact on lung cancer 
  • More than 11 million Americans could lose coverage—including thousands living with or at risk for lung cancer, and those affected by new work requirements and related policy changes. 
  • Capped payments to hospitals and nursing homes are expected to hit rural and safety-net providers hardest. 
  • Cuts threaten access to screening, diagnosis, treatment, and survivorship services—leading to later diagnoses and lower survival rates. 
  • Reduced Medicaid funding is likely to increase long-term healthcare costs and late-stage cancer cases. 
  • Disparities in lung cancer outcomes may widen, especially in low-income and rural communities. 

GO2 has joined with the disability community and advocacy organizations in urging Congress to pass the Protecting Healthcare and Lowering Costs Act of 2025 and similar legislation to repeal the entirety of the health provisions in H.R. 1 and permanently extend the advanced premium tax credits covered in the Affordable Care Act.  

If you would like to share your Medicaid story or become involved in advocacy around these changes, please send an email to Elridge D. Proctor, MPA, Senior Director, Government Affairs at policy@go2.org.

The Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2025 (H.R. 2319 / S.1157) 

The Women and Lung Cancer Act, H.R. 2319, was advanced by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in May 2025. Building on the momentum from the previous Congress when the House passed this bill. We call on advocates to urge the Senate to advance S.1157 so the bill can be passed into law next year.

Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) Screening Coverage Act 

The MCED Coverage Act (H.R. 842 / S. 339) reached 2 major milestones this year: 

  1. The bill was advanced by both the House Ways and Means Committee and the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee. 
  2. The bill achieved a combined 400 cosponsors, making it the most co-sponsored bill of this first session of the 119th Congress.  

With this resounding support, let’s continue our advocacy to see this bill enacted in 2026. 

Legislation endorsed by GO2 

  • The Mobile Cancer Screening Act, which will enhance access to cancer screening services for underserved and rural communities across the United States. In our view, all individuals, regardless of their geographic location or socioeconomic status, can benefit from early detection and intervention to not only save lives but also reduce healthcare costs associated with late-stage cancer treatments.
  • The Increasing Access to Lung Cancer Screening Act aimed at expanding access to low-dose CT scans for high-risk individuals. If passed, the bill would:  
    • Ensure that everyone currently recommended for lung cancer screening has access with no cost-sharing or prior authorization, regardless of their insurance type. 
    • Fund a nationwide awareness campaign about lung cancer and screening.
    • Authorize a study to better understand populations that are at high risk of lung cancer and not included in current screening guidelines. 
    • Expand coverage for tobacco cessation services in Medicaid. 
  • The Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act (H.R. 4206), which is the most comprehensive legislation to make telehealth access and flexibilities permanent. The bill permanently extends the major Medicare telehealth flexibilities created during the COVID-19 pandemic, removes outdated geographic and originating-site restrictions, expands the types of providers and clinics that can deliver and bill for telehealth, and supports a full range of technologies, including audio-only options—to ensure equitable access. It also aims to modernize and secure long-term telehealth access for patients nationwide. 
  • The States Handling Access to Reciprocity for Employment (SHARE) Act of 2025, which will provide the framework necessary to modernize licensure alignment and expand access to care across state lines. The need for licensure compacts as a tool to address healthcare workforce shortages and streamline the licensure process for our nation’s healthcare providers.  

Enacting comprehensive biomarker testing coverage 

Far too many insurance plans still fail to cover guideline-recommended biomarker testing for people diagnosed with lung cancer and other serious illnesses. This leaves many patients to pay out-of-pocket costs or miss treatments that could significantly improve their outcomes. 

GO2 continues its partnership with the American Cancer Society Action Network (ACS-CAN) on state-level campaigns to enact biomarker testing coverage laws. Thus far, 22 states have enacted laws to date. Looking ahead to 2026, we anticipate a challenging climate due to state budget pressures stemming from cuts in SNAP and Medicaid; however, the campaigns will continue in the following states: Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, and, newly, Mississippi.  

At the federal level, GO2 endorsed 2 bills introduced in late November by Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ): 

  • One bill allowing Medicaid coverage of biomarker testing for lung cancer when medically necessary. 
  • Another expanding Medicare coverage of biomarker testing for lung cancer, regardless of stage or prior testing.

To get involved in the campaign or share your biomarker stories in advocacy, please email policy@go2.org.

Staying involved in advocacy 

Your voices have a meaningful impact—especially in response to proposed cuts to cancer research. Our blog, As Time Is Ticking, Our Government Could Be Returning to Funding Levels from Decades Ago, captured and relayed the urgency felt across our community.

Because of your advocacy efforts:  

  • Over 5,200 messages were sent to Congress urging restoration of lung cancer research funding. 
  • Advocates in 49 states participated—let us bring Mississippi into the fold in 2026. 

Stay engaged by registering for the Voices Summit and taking action. Please visit our website to read policy letters and learn the positions that GO2 is taking in response to other issues and regulatory actions that could impact the lung cancer community.

Thank you for contributing to our 2025 advocacy impact—and for being a steadfast source of strength and hope in this community.