Earlier this month, the Congressional Skin Cancer Caucus Co-Chairs, Reps. John Joyce, MD (R-PA-13), Dave Joyce (R-OH-14), Debbie Dingell (D-MI-6) and Deborah Ross (D-NC-2) introduced the Supporting Accessible, Flexible, and Effective (SAFE) Sunscreen Standards Act (H.R. 3686). This bipartisan legislation recognizes the urgent need to approve new sunscreen ingredients to ensure access to safe and effective sunscreen for all and was one of the MRF’s legislative asks at our Advocacy Days event this past March. Additionally, the MRF’s Director of Advocacy, Kim Wezik, testified before the House Energy & Commerce Committee in April on the need for these regulatory changes to be included in the Over-the-Counter Monograph User Fee Act (OMUFA) Reauthorization bill.   

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has failed to approve any new sunscreen filters since the 1990s. As a result, the U.S. remains woefully behind other countries in sunscreen accessibility. The SAFE Sunscreen Standards Act, if passed, would effectively streamline the FDA’s review process, moving the FDA’s approval process away from animal testing methods and create a better pathway for sunscreen ingredient approval.  

Joined by many skin cancer advocates, the MRF attended the Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health markup hearing on July 16. Encouragingly, many lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle remarked on the need for reforms to the FDA’s review process. 

On behalf of the melanoma community, we thank Rep. John Joyce, MD for his commitment to skin cancer prevention efforts by ensuring Americans have access to the most effective sunscreen ingredients. We are hopeful that the House Energy & Commerce Committee will pass the bill and that a companion bill will be introduced in the Senate soon.  

On July 4, President Trump signed HR 1, also known as the “Big Beautiful Bill”, into law including sweeping cuts to public health insurance programs and healthcare marketplace insurance plan subsidies. According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, at least 10.5 million people will lose access to Medicaid, health insurance for low-income Americans, and CHIP, health insurance for low-income children, by 2034 and the Kaiser Health Foundation estimates that number to reach 16 to 17 million when taking into account those who will lose access due to provisions of the bill that reduce access to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), or Obamacare, marketplace subsidies.

A recent article published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology demonstrated the positive impact that Medicaid expansion, or raising the income threshold to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) for Medicaid eligibility so that those earning too much to traditionally qualify for Medicaid but not enough to traditionally afford to purchase their own plan on the ACA marketplace could be eligible for Medicaid in states that opted to expand their Medicaid eligibility, had on detecting and treating melanomas at earlier stages. Access to health insurance leads melanoma patients to detecting and treating their melanoma in its earliest and most survivable stages. Like many patient advocacy organizations, the MRF is deeply concerned that this bill will undo decades of progress for patients and lead to loss of coverage, delayed care, and needless loss of life.

While this bill has been signed into law by President Trump, the MRF is continuing to look for solutions to restore access to care for melanoma patients and encourages the melanoma community to share their Medicaid stories with their lawmakers.