President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot Initiative

On the 60th anniversary of President Kennedy’s “We Choose to Go to the Moon” speech, President Biden gave an update on his Cancer Moonshot Initiative, which he re-launched in February of this year. He originally created the Cancer Moonshot in 2016 as Vice President.

President Biden spoke of recent progress in cancer therapeutics, diagnostics, and patient-driven care, as well as the scientific advances and public health lessons of the COVID-19 pandemic, as reasons to bring back the effort. With the renewed effort, the administration has set an ambitious goal of reducing the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years. To help accomplish this goal, President Biden mentioned support for the 21st Century Cures Act and “a simple blood test during an annual physical that could detect cancer early, where the chances of a cure are best.”

CBSA supports policies that improve patient access to health innovation. Legislation from  members of Colorado’s Congressional Delegation and in particular, Representative Diana DeGette (Cures 2.0) and Senator Michael Bennet (S.1873) will be key to achieving the Cancer Moonshot Initiative’s goals.

Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Act S.1873/H.R. 1946

In 2020, Senator Bennet, along with Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Ben Cardin (D-Maryland), and Tim Scott (R-South Carolina), introduced the Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act (MCED). The bipartisan legislation would provide a pathway for Medicare coverage of screening tests that can detect multiple types of cancer before symptoms develop. Early detection saves lives and reduces healthcare system costs.

Senator Bennet’s MCED legislation continues to gain momentum and was co-sponsored by Senator John Hickenlooper this June. The bill is now co-sponsored by a bi-partisan majority in both the Senate with 52 members of the Senate sponsoring and an impressive 243 members in the House of Representatives, including Representative DeGette.

How CBSA is Engaging

Colorado BioScience Association has been supportive of MCED since its initial introduction in 2020. CBSA applauds Senator Bennet for his leadership on legislation that improves patient access to leading-edge cancer diagnostics developed by America’s health innovators and approved by the FDA and urges Congress to move ahead with this critical legislation.

The bipartisan legislation has significant impacts and delivers hope to patients. Multi-cancer early detection tests have the potential to be among the most important advances in the War on Cancer in our lifetime. The legislation helps ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have timely access to an important test.

CBSA appreciates the Senator’s continued leadership and support of our life sciences ecosystem. We look forward to continuing our work with his office to advance policies that drive health innovation and improve patient access.

How You Can Engage

Please take a few minutes to call Senator Bennet and Senator Hickenlooper and thank them for their leadership on the MCED Act (S.1873). You can reach Senator Bennet’s office at 303-455-7600 and Senator Hickenlooper’s office at 303-244-1628.