FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Adjoa Kyerematen
akyerematen@nmqf.org
202-220-8505

NMQF Action Network Issues Statement in Support of MCED Act Passage Now

Washington D.C. (January 20, 2026) —The National Minority Quality Forum Action Network today released the following statement urging swift congressional passage of the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act (H.R. 842/S. 339), legislation critical to closing cancer health access gaps. Dr. Gary Puckrein, President and CEO, of National Minority Quality Forum Action Network said:

“While we have seen tremendous progress in cancer treatment over the last several decades, too many people do not have access to the tools and treatments necessary to realize those improvements, especially hard-to-reach populations. Despite all of our progress, nearly 1,400 Medicare beneficiaries receive a late-stage cancer diagnosis every single day. That is why we must move upstream toward presymptomatic cancer detection—so we can identify cancer risk or disease earlier, before symptoms appear and before outcomes become harder to change. Lower socioeconomic groups, certain racial and ethnic populations, and geographically isolated Americans, including rural communities, continue to experience higher cancer death rates, less frequent use of proven screening tests, and higher rates of advanced cancer diagnoses. Multi-cancer early detection (MCED) can help change this.”

Congress has led the way before in creating meaningful policy changes that allow for access to cancer detection tools, such as mammography and colonoscopies, and it has the chance to make history again by enacting the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act into law. This bill establishes a strong foundation for coverage of MCED tests and creates a framework that enables CMS to evaluate available evidence. It is not often that such a pivotal and widely-supported health care bill comes along, and we applaud Congress for driving policy that puts patients first. We are urging lawmakers to pass this bill this week.”

###

About National Minority Quality Forum Action Network

National Minority Quality Forum Action Network (NMQFAN) is the 501(c)4 nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of National Minority Quality Forum. NMQFAN is a resource to legislators and policymakers, helping them to think through the vexing challenges of providing optimal care to all Americans. NMQFAN’s mission is to advocate for a transformation of our legacy healthcare finance, research, and delivery systems so that the prime directive of the new system is to reduce patient risk for poor health outcomes while improving the quality of life by assuring optimal care for all.