The Trump administration is moving to help Medicare patients access more accurate tests for cancer.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will now cover Medicare diagnostic lab tests that use DNA testing to determine the best treatment for patients with advanced cancer like patients with stage IV or metastatic cancers.
The coverage decision applies to next generation sequencing. It uses DNA sequencing to find vital information on a patient’s cancer.
“CMS believes when these tests are used as a common diagnostic to identify patients with certain genetic mutations that may benefit from U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments, these tests can assist patients and their oncologists in making more informed treatment decisions,” CMS said in a release.
In addition, if the test doesn’t find a treatment, then the result can help determine if a patient is right for cancer clinical trials.
“We want cancer patients to have enhanced access and expanded coverage when it comes to innovative diagnostics that can help them in new and better ways,” it said.
“That is why we are establishing clear pathways to coverage, while at the same time supporting laboratories that currently furnish tests to the people we serve,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma in a statement.
