Breast cancer patients and families are at a crucial turning point. Political decisions are threatening access to care, women’s health, and scientific research that saves lives. This election will help shape who gets care, what research advances, and whose voices matter. Breast cancer advocates must meet the moment and ensure that candidates prioritize policies that will end this disease.
The National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) calls upon all candidates for federal office to support NBCC’s policy platform and “ensure access to affordable health care, protect scientific research and its funding, and support policies that will end this disease.
More than 4 million women and thousands of men in the United States are living with breast cancer.
In 2026, an estimated 321,910 women and 2,670 men in this country will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer, and an additional 60,730 women with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
In the US alone, an estimated 42,670 women and 530 men will die of breast cancer this year.
We still do not know what causes breast cancer, how to prevent it or cure it, or how to stop it from metastasizing.
Public policy impacts every aspect of breast cancer. Since NBCC’s inception, NBCC advocates have been the leading political activists on breast cancer issues. From increasing the amount of research funding to expanding access to care for women and men with breast cancer to working to ensure drug prices reflect real value for the consumer, NBCC has successfully challenged our elected officials to play a role in ending this disease.
Learn what NBCC is asking candidates and public officials to support—from funding meaningful breast cancer research to expanding access to health care for all—and join the movement to end breast cancer this election year.
Research
The federal government must:
Access
Health care is a basic human right. The federal government must guarantee that everyone has access to patient-centered, evidence-based, high-quality, and affordable health care and:
Influence
The federal government must ensure that trained and educated advocates representing a constituency and personally affected by the disease have a seat at all tables where breast cancer research, health care, and policy decisions are made and implemented.
Here are three things you can do:
$150 Million/Level Funding for the Department of Defense (DOD) Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) for FY2027: As a result of NBCC’s grassroots advocacy, the DOD BCRP was created in 1992 to end breast cancer for Service Members, Veterans, and the general public by funding innovative, high-impact research through a partnership of scientists and consumers. The DOD BCRP is widely viewed as an innovative, unique, and efficient medical research model which has proven to be accountable to the public and has produced extraordinary results. NBCC seeks continued level funding.
Metastatic Breast Cancer Access to Care Act: This legislation would waive the 24-month waiting period for Medicare and the five-month waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits for eligible individuals with Metastatic Breast Cancer.
Preservation of the Medicaid Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program: Congress enacted the Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Act in 2000 after years of NBCC grassroots lobbying and influence. NBCC remains committed to ensuring all women and men screened and diagnosed with breast cancer have access to the treatment they need.
Guaranteed Access to Quality Care for All: Ensuring access to quality evidence-based health care has been a top priority of NBCC for many years. NBCC supports healthcare access initiatives that expand access to Medicare while offering a private insurance option, automatically enrolling individuals who do not have access to other coverage and providing guaranteed benefits, including primary and preventive care, hospital services, and prescription drug coverage. NBCC believes that there must be shared financial responsibility and that no individual should be denied coverage due to an inability to pay.
Protect Scientific Research: NBCC recognizes the importance of the scientific process and research infrastructure that have led to many life-saving medical interventions and enhanced our knowledge of the human condition. NBCC supports policies and legislation that protect the advancement of scientific knowledge and research through federally funded programs and opposes actions that undermine the integrity, continuity, or independence of the scientific enterprise.
Access to Affordable and Effective Therapies: NBCC supports policies that address systemic deficiencies in the law, regulation, and science policy that result in the approval of drugs that do not significantly extend or save lives and whose prices are not based on value or effectiveness.
Food & Drug Administration Reform: NBCC supports a drug approval system that prioritizes approving drugs with clinically meaningful benefits for patients. NBCC seeks to address systemic deficiencies in FDA regulation and the drug development process, including reforms to the accelerated approval pathway and the use of unvalidated surrogate endpoints.
Ensure the Participation of Educated Patient Advocates in Science Research and All Levels of Health Care Decision Making: NBCC continues to work to ensure that educated patient advocates who are trained and represent a constituency have a meaningful seat at the table in all levels of health care decision-making, which affects their lives.
