BOSTON —June 10, 2025— Today, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) volunteers from across Massachusetts will meet with their lawmakers as a part of its annual Massachusetts state Lobby Day to urge them to support proposals that address the needs of cancer patients and reduce health disparities.
Advocates will ask lawmakers to support legislation (House Bill 1227/Senate Bill 809) that would ensure insurance coverage of comprehensive biomarker testing, which uses information about a person’s own genes or proteins to prevent, diagnose or treat diseases like cancer. Unfortunately, not all communities are benefiting from the latest advancements in biomarker testing and precision medicine due to financial barriers. Improving coverage for biomarker testing across insurance types will help reduce health disparities by eliminating these barriers.
“Biomarker testing is essential to high-quality, personalized care for many conditions and can be a real gamechanger for many patients. Unfortunately, not everyone who can benefit from biomarker testing is getting it,” said Marc Hymovitz, ACS CAN Massachusetts director of government relations.
“There are significant disparities in health outcomes for Massachusetts patients by race, income, and insurance type. Without addressing barriers to care, breakthroughs in personalized treatments could increase these disparities in health outcomes. Already, 21 states have passed similar laws to increase access to comprehensive biomarker testing—and it’s time for Massachusetts to do the same,” he continued.
Access to biomarker testing opens the door to personalized medicine, including targeted therapy – in fact, 60% of oncology drugs launched in the past five years require or recommend biomarker testing prior to use. While most current applications are in cancer, biomarker testing is becoming increasingly important to the treatment of other disease areas including arthritis, other autoimmune conditions, organ and tissue transplant, rare diseases, and preeclampsia.
“Expanding access to biomarker testing will help more people in Massachusetts get the right treatment at the right time and avoid therapies that are unnecessary or ineffective for their condition – not only for cancer patients, but for a wide variety of serious diseases,” continued Hymovitz.
Advocates will also urge lawmakers to support legislation (House Bill1173/Senate Bill 692) which will extend the reach of patient navigation services, ensuring access for people who have been historically marginalized and excluded, as well as those living in under resourced communities. Oncology patient navigation is the individualized assistance offered to patients, families, and caregivers to help overcome health care system barriers and facilitate timely access to quality health and psychosocial care from pre-diagnosis through all phases of the cancer experience.
This year, 44,000 Massachusetts residents are projected to be diagnosed with cancer, and nearly 12,500 will die from the disease. Despite efforts to improve health equity, disparities persist, and not all communities have equal access to cancer prevention, treatment and care. The bills being discussed today aim to reduce those disparities and increase equitable access to cancer care for all communities in Massachusetts.
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About ACS CAN The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) makes cancer a top priority for policymakers at every level of government. ACS CAN empowers volunteers across the country to make their voices heard to influence evidence-based public policy change that improves the lives of people with cancer and their families. We believe everyone should have a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. Since 2001, as the American Cancer Society’s nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate, ACS CAN has successfully advocated for billions of dollars in cancer research funding, expanded access to quality affordable health care, and advanced proven tobacco control measures. We’re more determined than ever to stand together with our volunteers to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. Join the fight by visiting www.fightcancer.org.