Prevent Cancer Foundation in strong support of bipartisan year-end agreement, urges swift passage
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kyra Meister
703-836-1746
kyra.meister@preventcancer.org
Alexandria, Va. – Yesterday, bipartisan leadership of the House of Representatives and Senate released details on their year-end legislative package, which includes the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act (H.R. 2407) / Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act (S. 2085). The Prevent Cancer Foundation® has led the way in advocating for this legislation—including spearheading a letter of support from more than 500 advocacy organizations from all 50 states—and strongly urges Congress to pass this end-year package.
“Medicare is poised to spend $1 trillion treating cancer over the next decade. The unfortunate reality is that most costs follow late-stage diagnoses, when cancer can be more difficult to treat, creating challenges for patients and their families,” said Jody Hoyos, CEO of the Prevent Cancer Foundation. “Cancer screening tools take the power from cancer and give it back to people. The Prevent Cancer Foundation has been immensely proud to lead a coalition of more than 500 patient, cancer and health equity organizations in support of the legislation, and we are thrilled to see this policy has been included in a year-end package to be voted on this week.”
The Foundation is grateful for the bipartisan work done by Representatives Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) for championing this bill in the House as well as Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) and Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) for their leadership in the Senate.
“This bill represents an opportunity to challenge the status quo in the early detection of cancer,” said Hoyos. “By establishing a pathway for Medicare coverage of new transformational cancer detection tools, we move closer to a world where cancer is preventable, detectable and beatable for all. Thank you to the leaders in Congress who have brought the bill to this point. We are strongly urging swift passage to enable our collective efforts to fight detectable cancer.”
Learn more about multi-cancer early detection (MCED) here.
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About the Prevent Cancer Foundation®
The Prevent Cancer Foundation® is the only U.S.-based nonprofit organization solely dedicated to cancer prevention and early detection. Through research, education, outreach and advocacy, we have helped countless people avoid a cancer diagnosis or detect their cancer early enough to be successfully treated. We are driven by a vision of a world where cancer is preventable, detectable and beatable for all.
The Foundation is rising to meet the challenge of reducing cancer deaths by 40% by 2035. To achieve this, we are committed to investing $20 million for innovative technologies to detect cancer early and advance multi-cancer screening, $10 million to expand cancer screening and vaccination access to medically underserved communities, and $10 million to educate the public about screening and vaccination options.
For more information, please visit www.preventcancer.org.