OPINION — I’m genuinely encouraged to see Congress delivering a major, bipartisan win in the fight against cancer. At a time when gridlock too often grabs the headlines, lawmakers came together to advance historic legislation that will allow Medicare to cover groundbreaking new multi-cancer early detection screenings for seniors once they are approved by the FDA.
This is exactly the kind of forward-looking action patients and families have been hoping for. These tests screen for dozens of cancers through a single blood draw, and in clinical studies, have been shown to detect cancer in the earlier stages — and to detect more cancers than we are currently able to screen for. Once this law is fully implemented, more Americans will be able to catch more cancers earlier — when treatment is more likely to be successful.
Arizona Congressmen Juan Ciscomani, Abe Hamadeh and Greg Stanton may come from different political backgrounds, but I’m thrilled that they came together to support this issue. Their bipartisan leadership on improving access to cancer screening is a powerful reminder that when Congress unites behind patients and families, lawmakers can deliver truly life-saving progress in our fight against cancer.
