We are proud to provide our strong support for the Medicare Multi-Cancer Screening Coverage Act of 2021 reintroduced March 16, 2021 by U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell (AL-07), Jodey Arrington (TX-19), Raul Ruiz (CA-36), and Richard Hudson (NC-08) to ensure that as science develops new methods of finding cancers at earlier stages that our healthcare system keeps pace and removes barriers to accessing these early detection tests. Read the press release from U.S. Representative Sewell.

Too many lives are lost to cancer every day, most because their cancers are caught late stage. We know that early detection saves lives, lowers treatment costs, and increases quality of life for cancer patients and their families. While lung cancer has the benefit of a screening test, it is only available to a people with a high-risk profile. It is essential that we address the needs of the many individuals who do not fit that profile by leveraging new technologies that help find cancer through a simple blood draw before it spreads throughout the body.

The imperative is clear: we must expand our ability to screen for and detect more cancers – and ensure there is equity in accessing these life-saving tests, particularly our seniors, the vulnerable, and the underserved.  That is what this legislation is intended to do.

The Medicare Multi-Cancer Screening Coverage Act of 2021 responds to the misalignment between advances in science and outdated policy by allowing for Medicare coverage of multi-cancer screening. It creates the authority for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to evaluate and cover blood-based multi-cancer early detection tests and future test methods (e.g., urine or hair tests), once approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

We proudly join the chorus of others in support of legislation that would greatly reduce delays to accessing these new multi-cancer screening tools that will complement existing screenings and dramatically improve cancer early detection capabilities.

Read the letter of support.