Last week, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., celebrated the passage of a bipartisan piece of legislation to ensure emerging cancer blood tests are covered by Medicare.
The Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection, MCED, Screening Coverage Act is legislation sponsored by Rep. Jodey Arrington, R-Texas, and named in honor of Sewell’s mother who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2021.
The act was included in a package of FY26 appropriations bills passed by the House last Thursday, with Sewell and Arrington championing the legislation’s advancement to the Senate.
Sewell, who has pushed for the legislation since 2021, celebrated the bill’s passage in the House and thanked Arrington for his support of the measure in a statement released Thursday.
“Today, the House took a major bipartisan step toward giving our seniors their best shot at catching cancer early,” Sewell said. “This critical milestone is years in the making, and was only made possible thanks to the efforts of amazing organizations, survivors, and patient advocates.”
“I am especially grateful to Congressman Arrington for his close partnership and for naming the bill after my mother, the late Nancy Gardner Sewell,” the congresswoman added. “I know that she would be immensely proud of the work we are doing to provide greater access [to] early detection cancer screenings.”
Sewell and Arrington have urged the bill’s speedy consideration and passage in the Senate.
MCED screenings are an emerging technology allowing the detection of dozens of forms of cancer through a blood, urine or saliva test. The tests are yet to receive U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval.
Sewell’s office wrote that, under current U.S. law, it would take more than a decade before Medicare may have the authority to cover the screenings once they receive approval.
However, the congresswoman’s legislation would establish a pathway for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to cover blood-based MCED tests and future test methods immediately, once approved by the FDA.
Arrington, alongside Sewell, called improving access to MCED screenings “a game changer” in a Friday social media video.
“This is what can happen when we treat a problem like it’s an American problem, and not a Republican or Democrat problem,” the congressman said. “It’s a rare thing. But, you know, we’re all in on winning the battle against cancer.”
The bill’s passage in the House was also championed by a roster of health organizations.
“We are thrilled for final passage in the House of the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act in the package,” wrote American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network President Lisa Lacasse.
“ACS CAN strongly urges the Senate to pass this package which brings us one step closer to ending cancer as we know it, for everyone,” she added.
Other organizations that endorsed the bill include the Prevent Cancer Foundation, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, or PanCAN, and the Laura Crandall Brown Foundation of Alabama.
“Today marks a historic milestone in cancer prevention and early detection,” said Prevent Cancer Foundation CEO Jody Hoyos.
“With the passage of this legislation, groundbreaking multi-cancer early detection tests have a path forward to reach older Americans, bringing lifesaving innovation to those who need it most,” Hoyos continued. “This achievement reflects unprecedented, bipartisan collaboration and the dedication of hundreds of organizations working together to ensure that early detection saves lives and reduces long-standing health inequities.”
In a statement of support for the bill, PanCAN President and CEO Julie Fleshman cited that pancreatic cancer remains the deadliest major cancer in the U.S. and the only variant of cancer with a five-year survival rate less than 20 percent.
“Because symptoms are often vague and mimic other conditions, most patients are diagnosed in the later stages, when tumors are inoperable and treatment options are limited,” Fleshman wrote. “Multi-cancer early detection, MCED, blood tests will enable earlier detection when the disease is more treatable, but these tests must be accessible and affordable to change patient outcomes.”
Laura Crandall Brown Foundation Executive Director Bethany Black, whose organization funds research into ovarian cancer and promotes gynecological cancer awareness and patient-support programs, expressed support for the bill and her hope that it will improve access to early detection screenings.
“For the thousands of women and families we serve, early detection isn’t just a medical goal—it’s a lifeline,” Black stated. “The Laura Crandall Brown Foundation wants to extend its deepest thanks to Congresswoman Sewell for her leadership and tireless effort on the MCED bill in Washington. Her advocacy helps bridge the gap between innovative science and the patients who need it most.”
Sewell’s bill will now head to the U.S. Senate for consideration.
