Cancer survivors, volunteers advocate in Washington for increased access to early detection testing

WASHINGTON — Cancer impacts all of us. This year alone, two million Americans are expected to receive a cancer diagnosis.

And for many patients, early screenings can be the difference between life and death.

This is something Gloria Garcia knows all too well.

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“The most beautiful blue eyes, beautiful soul, and just a warm person,” she said while describing her sister.

Garcia said her older sister was just 38 years old when she died from an aggressive case of breast cancer. She said her sister discovered the lump during a self-examination and sought out further testing.

Nearly 15 years later, Garcia is honoring her sister’s life by raising awareness.

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“The research is so key and so important to getting those early detection better treatment options,” said Garcia.

Tuesday, nearly 750 cancer survivors, advocates and volunteers met with hundreds of lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

They’re pushing for increased access to new tests being developed that can screen for multiple types of cancer at their earliest stages.

“All these volunteers are here and they’ve all expected cancer, and they are then taking that experience and saying I don’t want my mom, my child, myself to go through that again,” said Lisa Lacasse, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.

Lacasse said volunteers and advocates are urging lawmakers to pass the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act. It would allow Medicare to provide reimbursement for new testing once it’s approved by the FDA and shown to have clinical benefit.

“We know that equitable access to care is all about coverage and if someone has to pay for something, many can’t afford it,” she said.

Advocates want Congress to pass this bill by the end of the year. The push comes amid a busy time in Washington as lawmakers work to avoid a pending government shutdown.

But Lacasse believes they’ve making a strong for case for support.

“We’ve recently done some polling that really looked at the fact that people support having good health care, they want that healthcare to be affordable and they want to find out if they have a disease early,” said Lacasse.

Advocates are also calling for more money for federal cancer prevention programs. Lacasse said one CDC initiative helps women who are underinsured or don’t have insurance get screened for breast and cervical cancers.

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