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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAshley Plum\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSubmitted photo\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
By Ashley Plum | Check For A Lump<\/p>\n
Following several unusually contentious weeks, even by Congress\u2019 standards, I hope our elected officials can refocus on the kinds of issues that serve all Americans. They should come together and pass something that has overwhelming bipartisan support and will provide tremendous benefits to seniors.<\/p>\n
With over 300 members of Congress cosponsoring, the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act \u2014 HR 842<\/a>\/SB 339<\/a> \u2014 has nearly equal support from Democrats and Republicans.\u00a0It is also supported by hundreds of patient groups and was within a whisker of being passed at the end of 2024. It\u2019s long overdue for passage.<\/p>\n As a cancer survivor who works with cancer patients and their caregivers, I know firsthand the devastation that a late diagnosis can bring. When a cancer is discovered in the later stages, treatment options become more limited, more expensive and possibly less effective.<\/p>\n This is where the bipartisan MCED bill could transform cancer care by allowing Medicare to meaningfully cover multi-cancer early detection tests, innovative screenings that use a simple blood draw to detect dozens of cancers.<\/p>\n Medicare currently covers only a handful of the traditional screening methods, which leaves too much risk for patients with undetected threats. This technology is the key that we as patients and care organizations have been waiting for. Early detection doesn\u2019t just greatly decrease the burden of cancer \u2014 it gives patients the best chance possible to conquer cancer and maintain their quality of life.<\/p>\n The MCED Screening Coverage Act is not just smart policy \u2014 it\u2019s personal. It\u2019s about giving every patient the opportunity for early detection, better outcomes and more time with loved ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n We live in divided times, but cancer screenings should not be caught in the crossfire of national political fights. In the early 1990s, Congress added mammography and cervical cancer screenings without fanfare. It also added prostate and colorectal cancer screenings later on.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t a contentious issue; it was the obvious solution to an unacceptable status quo. Now that we have the technology to catch dozens of other cancers through minimally invasive testing, we must ensure that the most vulnerable patients are not the last to benefit. Offering coverage to those on Medicare is another such no-brainer.<\/p>\n Arizona Democrats Sen. Mark Kelly and Ruben Gallego have co-sponsored the Senate bill. Republican Representatives David Schweikert, Juan Ciscomani and Abe Hamadeh, and Democratic Representatives Greg Stanton and Yassamin Ansari all have signed on to the House version.\u00a0<\/p>\n Congressman Schweikert has been an especially strong leader on this issue, posting videos and newsletters on why Congress needs to pass this important legislation.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n Americans need a reason to believe that Congress is working for them.\u00a0Passing the Screening Coverage Act would be a major step in reminding seniors in Arizona and across the country that their leaders want to give those on Medicare a chance to own their health futures and fight cancer with the best tools at our disposal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note: Ashley Plum is a cancer survivor and the executive director of Check For A Lump<\/a>, a Phoenix-based nonprofit that provides free breast health education, mammograms, testing and direct assistance to breast cancer patients in Arizona. Please send your comments to AzOpinions@iniusa.org.\u00a0We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ashley Plum Submitted photo By Ashley Plum | Check For A Lump Following several unusually contentious weeks, even…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":164918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,407,171,14154,50,5622,1589,62,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-164917","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-education","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-fountain-hills-arizona","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-opinions","16":"tag-phoenix","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-united-states","19":"tag-united-states-of-america","20":"tag-unitedstates","21":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","22":"tag-us","23":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115069145960575472","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}