BOSTON —March 26, 2026— Today, over 100 American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) volunteers from across Massachusetts met with 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 asked lawmakers to support legislation (House Bill 4339/Senate Bill 809) that would ensure insurance coverage of comprehensive biomarker testing.
“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 – in part because insurers often won’t cover the testing that patients need,” 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, like coverage of testing, breakthroughs in personalized treatments could increase these disparities. Already, 23 states have passed similar laws to increase coverage for comprehensive biomarker testing – the most recent being Mississippi last week—and it’s time for Massachusetts to do the same,” he continued.
Access to biomarker testing opens the door to personalized medicine, allowing for targeted therapies that improve health outcomes and can eliminate the need for unnecessary, costly treatments. 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, Alzheimer’s, and preeclampsia.
“Expanding access to biomarker testing will help more people in Massachusetts get the right treatment at the right time – not only for cancer patients, but for a wide variety of serious diseases,” continued Hymovitz.
Additionally, advocates asked lawmakers to support legislation (House Bill 4939/Senate Bill 692) which will extend the reach of patient navigation services and urged the implementation of recommendations from the 2019 Special Legislative Commission to Study Pancreatic Cancer in Massachusetts (House Bill 2432/Senate Bill 1484).
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.
###
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.
Doz