Legal Advocacy

Legal Advocacy

Why is legal advocacy important?

For many cancer patients—especially those who are underserved, uninsured, underinsured, or members of marginalized communities—healthcare access and affordability are life-and-death issues. LLS recognizes that public policies have a major impact on the lives of blood cancer patients, and we must engage with all branches of government to influence change.

Policy changes often begin in the legislative branch, where LLS’s grassroots advocacy team as well as state and federal government affairs teams influence lawmakers to pass laws that expand patients’ access to treatment. Recognizing that the work to transform policies does not end once a law is passed, our legal advocacy continues in the executive and judicial branches.

As part of that legal advocacy, LLS connects with administrative agencies and Congressional oversight committees. We also submit public comments on proposed rules to ensure that policies best serve patients and honor how the legislation was written.

Courts are increasingly charged with weighing in on legal disputes pertaining to health policy. When the laws and regulations that impact patients are litigated, LLS leads and joins amicus (“friend of the court”) briefs in cases filed in federal and state courts across the country to ensure the patient perspective is considered.

What are our priorities?

LLS engages legal advocacy on the following issues:

  • Making comprehensive coverage more accessible
  • Fighting against insurance-like products (“junk plans”) that leave patients exposed to financial ruin
  • Strengthening government-subsidized health insurance via Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and the Affordable Care Act
  • Protecting patients from rising healthcare costs
  • Promoting price transparency
  • Promoting competition among drugmakers, doctors, and hospitals
  • Curtailing unfair and deceptive practices and predatory conduct
  • Ensuring a fair, transparent, and responsive government
  • Defending due process, equal rights, and access to justice

Who are our pro bono partners?

LLS is grateful to the following firms, who have generously donated their services by drafting and filing amicus briefs on our behalf and in partnership with other patient advocacy organizations.

Akin King & Spalding Kellogg Hansen

Arnold&Porter logo

To learn more about pro bono opportunities with LLS, please email advocacy@lls.org.

  • American Association of Ancillary Benefits, et al. v. Becerra et al. – LLS led an amicus brief joined by 14 patient advocacy groups to educate the District Court for the Eastern District of Texas about the need for the 2024 version of the short-term, limited-duration insurance (STLDI) rule to help protect consumers and promote access to comprehensive healthcare coverage.
  • U.S. ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates LLC – LLS filed an amicus brief in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals explaining that qui tam actions under the False Claims Act are an important tool to combat fraud, advance integrity, and promote efficiency in government-funded healthcare programs, to the benefit of patients.
  • Medina v. Planned Parenthood – LLS joined an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the ability of Medicaid beneficiaries to enforce their rights to receive services from any qualified provider of their choice.
    Section 1557 – LLS joined amicus briefs filed in several cases, including Texas v. Becerra in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, in support of the version of Section 1557 (the anti-discrimination provision in the Affordable Care Act) that includes gender identity in its prohibition against discrimination “on the basis of sex.”
  • State of Texas v. Mayorkas et al., -- LLS joined an amicus brief filed in the District Court for the Southern District of Texas to advocate for the version of the public charge rule that promotes access to Medicaid for eligible non-citizens without fear of unwarranted immigration consequences.
  • LLS led amicus briefs filed in the following cases to defend the No Surprises Act – LLS led amicus briefs filed in several cases, including Texas Medical Association v. HHS, et al. in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and Daniel Haller, et al. v. HHS, et al. in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, to defend the No Surprises Act and its implementing rules that protect patients from surprise medical bills and attempt to contain healthcare costs.
  • Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, et al. v. FDA, et al. -- LLS led amicus briefs filed in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court to sound the alarm about the risk of courts overriding the FDA’s expert decisions concerning the safety and efficacy of drugs, treatments, and their conditions of use.
  • Data Marketing Partnership v. Dept. of Labor -- LLS led an amicus brief filed in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to educate the court on the danger to patients if non-ACA-compliant plans are allowed to avoid state and ACA regulations that combat fraud, prevent insolvency, and secure the health insurance benefits that patients need.
  • Braidwood Management v. Kennedy -- LLS joined amicus briefs filed in the District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court to defend the ACA coverage mandate for certain preventive services without cost-sharing.
  • Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo -- LLS joined an amicus brief filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in which the Court will decide whether to overrule the Chevron doctrine, a bedrock administrative law principle that requires courts to defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute.