Preserve Medicaid Patient Access To Biomarker Testing

Reject Governor Hochul's proposal to roll back important Medicaid coverage for biomarker testing. 

State lawmakers must reject Governor Hochul’s proposed rollback of biomarker testing access for Medicaid patients. Biomarker testing saves lives and reduces long-term health care spending.

The 2023 law, passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, ensured equitable coverage for proven biomarker testing for more New Yorkers. Unfortunately, the governor’s budget rolls back coverage for Medicaid patients, jeopardizing coverage for millions. This proposal is short-sighted for the budget and will result in worse health outcomes. 

Please join ACS CAN in calling on state lawmakers to preserve Medicaid patients’ access to biomarker testing.  

Background

Research shows that biomarker-informed treatments can improve health outcomes, increase quality of life, and prolong patient survival.^[i],[ii] Using the traditional trial and error method to identify an effective treatment for a particular patient can take months — even years. In chronic, degenerative diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, any length of time spent trying (and failing) on ineffective treatments allows the disease to continue causing irreversible damage to the joints, increasing health care consumption and costs.

In cancer care and some autoimmune conditions, the length of time it takes to identify an effective treatment can be a matter of life or death. In all cases, ineffective treatments exacerbate the physical, emotional, and economic burdens of disease, and the price is paid by both the patient and the insurer.

The governor’s proposal would reverse this gain for health equity by eliminating the established coverage criteria for Medicaid enrollees, while people with private insurance are not impacted. Consistent coverage criteria across Medicaid and private plans allow providers to understand what is covered and provide equitable treatment for patients across payors.

Without equitable coverage and access to biomarker testing, advances in precision medicine could exacerbate existing disparities in access to care and, consequently, health outcomes associated with race, ethnicity, income, and geography.

Despite the clear benefits of biomarker testing, many insurance plans do not cover evidence-based biomarker testing for all patients who need it.

This is a shortsighted effort to save money that hurts patients – and could potentially cost Medicaid more. As the state grapples with federal funding cuts, it is more important than ever to spend Medicaid dollars efficiently – and upfront spending on biomarker testing can allow patients to avoid costly treatments that will be unnecessary or ineffective.

Please join ACS CAN in calling on state lawmakers to preserve Medicaid patients’ access to biomarker testing.  

The following organizations strongly urge that the proposed changes to biomarker coverage are not included in the one-house and final budgets. (as of 2/10/26)

• Advanced Medical Technology Association
• Advocates for Universal DPD/DPYD Testing (AUDT)
• AiArthritis: International Foundation for Autoimmune & Autoinflammatory Arthritis
• ALS Association
• ALS United Greater New York
• Alzheimer’s Association/Alzheimer’s Impact Movement (AIM)
• American Association of Clinical Urologists (AACU)
• American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
• American Clinical Laboratory Association
• American Lung Association
• American Parkinson's Disease Association
• American Society of Pharmacovigilance
• Arthritis Foundation
• Autoimmune Association
• Biomarker Collaborative
• Breast Cancer Coalition of Rochester
• Cactus Cancer Society
• Cancer Support Community
• Cancer Support Team
• CancerCare
• Center for Independence of the Disabled, New York (CIDNY)
• Cheeky Charity
• Coalition for 21^st Century Medicine (C21)
• Coalition of Hematology and Oncology Practices
• Coalition of State Rheumatology Organizations (CSRO)
• Colon Cancer Coalition
• Color of Gastrointestinal Illnesses
• Columbia University Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Crohn's & Colitis Foundation
• Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer
• Emily Whitehead Foundation
• EndPreeclampsia.org
• Exon 20 Group
• Familial Dysautonomia Foundation
• Fight Colorectal Cancer
• Fighting Chance
• FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered
• GI Cancers Alliance, Inc
• Global Coalition on Aging
• Global Colon Cancer Association
• Global Liver Institute
• GO2 for Lung Cancer
• Head and Neck Cancer Alliance
• HEAL Collaborative
• Honor the Gift
• HPV Cancers Alliance
• Hudson Headwaters Health Network
• ICAN, International Cancer Advocacy Network
• Infusion Access Foundation
• Infusion Access Foundation (IAF)
• KRAS Kickers
• Lung Cancer Research Foundation
• LUNGevity Foundation
• Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc.
• M-CM Network
• Medical Society of the State of New York
• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
• MET Crusaders
• Metro New York Health Care for All
• Montefiore Einstein Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Mosaic Health
• Multiple Sclerosis of Central New York
• NAACP NYS Conference
• National Alliance on Mental Illness – New York State
• National Comprehensive Cancer Network® (NCCN®)
• National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD)
• National Ovarian Cancer Coalition
• New York Oncology Hematology
• New York State Academy of Family Physicians
• New York State Clinical Laboratory Association
• New York State Radiological Society
• NewYorkBIO
• NewYork-Presbyterian Queens
• Northwell Health Cancer Institute
• NYU Langone Health
• Oncology Nursing Society
• One Cancer Place
• Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance
• Patient Empowerment Network
• Patients Rising
• PDL1 Amplifieds
• Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
• Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine.
• Sharsheret
• Sickle Cell & Thalassemia Patient Network
• Sisters Network: A National African American Breast Cancer Survivorship Organization
• Stony Brook Cancer Center
• Stupid Cancer
• Support For People With Oral and Head And Neck Cancer (SPOHNC)
• Susan G. Komen
• The Canavan Foundation
• The Michael J. Fox Foundation
• The New York State Neurological Society
• The Raymond Foundation, Inc
• The Tisch Cancer Institute at Mount Sinai
• TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance
• Triage Cancer
• VHL Alliance
• Wilmot Cancer Institute at the University of Rochester Medical Center
• ZERO Prostate Cancer