American Cancer Society COVID Layoffs: What a 2020 Fundraising Shock Meant for Cancer Patients

What happened in 2020

On April 17, 2020, The Cancer Letter reported that the American Cancer Society had announced furloughs and layoffs. COVID-19 had cut off its fundraising almost overnight.

Two months later ACS confirmed the scale in its own press release, dated June 11, 2020. The pandemic had "severely reduced our fundraising revenue." ACS was cutting its overall budget by about 30%, across both staff and non-staff costs, and eliminating roughly 1,000 positions nationwide.

The same release said the organization would keep serving patients through research, education, advocacy, and patient services, with a greater emphasis on digital channels.

Why a charity's budget is a clinical story

Cancer treatment is surgery, radiation, drugs, and scans. Finishing cancer treatment is something else.

Finishing it often depends on a ride to the clinic five days a week for six weeks. On a bed near the cancer center when home is three hours away. On someone who can explain a bill, or find a grant, or fill in a form for medical leave.

None of that is optional if you need it. When it disappears, the medical plan does not automatically continue. People miss appointments. Some stop treatment.

That is the reason a fundraising shortfall belongs on a cancer information site at all.

What patients felt first

A phrase like "organizational restructuring" means nothing at the point of care. What registers is narrower and more concrete.

Whether a ride program is still running. Whether a helpline picks up in the evening. Whether lodging near the hospital is open.

In March 2020 ACS had already suspended its Hope Lodge program, which provides free lodging for patients traveling for treatment. That decision was about infection control rather than money. But the two pressures landed on the same people at the same time.

Build the list before you need it

The practical lesson from 2020 is not about any one charity. It is that a support system with a single point of failure is not a support system.

If you or someone you care for is in treatment, ask the oncology clinic these questions now, not during a crisis:

• Who here helps with transportation, lodging, bills, insurance, or grant applications?
• Is there a social worker, financial navigator, or patient navigator I can meet?
• Is there a foundation specific to this cancer type?
• If a national program closes, what local programs do you send people to?
• Who should I call first if I lose income or insurance?

NCI's support pages list the categories worth asking about by name: counseling, genetic counseling, pain and palliative care services, long-term follow-up clinics, stress management programs, support groups, survivor wellness programs, and help quitting smoking. Its guidance on managing costs covers organizations that assist with medicines, travel, lodging, and general living expenses.

Our pages on financial assistance for cancer and transportation to cancer treatment list starting points, and help with lodging during treatment covers the housing question directly.

When to raise this with your team

Do not manage a support gap by quietly changing your treatment. Tell the team what is blocking you.

Say something the same week if any of these are true:

• You have missed, or expect to miss, an appointment because of transport, cost, or child care.
• You have started skipping doses, splitting pills, or delaying a refill because of price.
• You are being asked to travel for daily radiation and cannot arrange somewhere to stay.
• You have lost your job or your insurance since treatment started.
• You are the caregiver and cannot keep up with the driving.

Radiation schedules, drug choices, and appointment timing can sometimes be adjusted safely when a team knows what the real obstacle is. They cannot adjust for something nobody told them about.

What this story cannot tell you

• It does not mean ACS stopped serving patients. The organization said the opposite in its own release.
• It does not mean every program was affected in the same way, or for the same length of time.
• It does not mean a person should avoid ACS, NCI, or a hospital social work department.
• It does not mean charity layoffs changed anyone's treatment plan directly. The effect is on the layer around treatment.
• It does not mean support services are extras. For people who depend on them, they determine whether treatment gets finished.

Why a 2020 story still matters

The pandemic made these problems visible. It did not invent them.

Financial strain, travel distance, insurance gaps, lost wages, and caregiver exhaustion were present before 2020 and remain now. A shock simply removes the slack that was hiding them.

The durable takeaway is redundancy. Several doors into help, not one. Phone and web and clinic referral. A national organization and a local one. Knowing the name of the person at your own hospital whose job this is.

Sources

• The Cancer Letter: American Cancer Society announces a wave of furloughs and layoffs as COVID-19 constricts fundraising (April 17, 2020)
• American Cancer Society: Reductions in Wake of Fundraising Drop from Coronavirus Pandemic (June 11, 2020)
• American Cancer Society: Hope Lodge
• NCI: Support Services for People with Cancer
• NCI: Managing Cancer Costs and Medical Information

How this page was made

An AI-assisted editorial system helped prepare this page. No named medical reviewer has reviewed it unless one is listed.

Cancer Explained is published by the National Cancer Information Foundation. It is not medical advice and does not suggest a test or treatment.

See an error, old source, or unclear wording? Tell us.