Medicare proposal misses the point of cancer prevention

Nearly 20 years ago, I had the privilege of working alongside lawmakers, health experts, and patient advocates to help pass one of the most consequential reforms to Medicare in its history: the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.

That law was built on the simple, but powerful, principle that Medicare should empower seniors to access the best available care, not settle for less. I am proud of that work. Which is why I am deeply concerned about what the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is proposing today.

The CMS has put forward a coverage framework for colorectal cancer screening tests that, while well-intentioned, sets the bar in the wrong place. The proposed performance thresholds focus primarily on whether a test can detect cancer after it has already developed. What they fail to meaningfully account for is whether a test can find the precancerous polyps that cause cancer in