SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — This morning, volunteers from across Utah celebrated the beginning of Medicare and Medicaid programs, which began 58 years ago on July 30, 1965.
Volunteers from the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network held the celebration on Sunday, July 30, outside of the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building.
According to ACS CAN, both Medicare and Medicaid play a role in early cancer detection. Because cancer risk increases with age, ACS CAN said Medicare beneficiaries are especially vulnerable.
The Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act would potentially expand access to cancer screenings in Medicare. This Act reportedly aims to create a pathway for Medicare to cover emerging blood-based cancer screening, trying to catch cancer earlier than ever before, according to a press release on the legislation.
Under that legislation, once the test had been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services could initiate an “evidence-based coverage process to determine coverage when clinical benefit is shown,” according to ACS CAN.
Without that legislation, ACS CAN reported that Medicare beneficiaries could experience delays in access to multi-cancer early detection.
The celebration highlighted the importance of enrollees having access to screening tests when the benefit is clinically shown, according to ACS CAN.
For more information on how the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network is advocating for cancer patients, survivors, and their families on the local, state, and federal levels, people are encouraged to visit FightCancer.org/Utah.
