Pass this bill to help wipe out the racial disparity in cancer deaths

These past two years have brought to light a fact that has existed for too long: There are a number of disparities based on the color of one’s skin — including healthcare — and it’s time we finally close those gaps. While disease does not discriminate, there are undeniable inequities in our healthcare system. African Americans become afflicted with certain cancers at the same rate as their white counterparts, but they are more likely to die. This has been an ongoing problem and one a healthy nation cannot allow to remain unaddressed. In this regard, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services deserves some credit. Its action plan to reduce the burden of cancer in our state places a special emphasis on the disease’s disparate impact on communities of color.

The plan acknowledges that higher mortality rates among people of color exist because they tend to be diagnosed with cancer at a later stage, when the disease has spread and become far less treatable. DHHS has acknowledged that this is in large part due to a lack of, and inequitable, access to healthcare services. An effective way to address this dilemma may be in our hands in the foreseeable future. What if it became easier to bring cancer screening tools to economically poor, rural and underserved areas in our state?

Clinical testing is underway — with very positive results — on new technologies called multi-cancer early detection that can diagnose dozens of cancers through a simple blood draw. It would profoundly change our ability to detect cancers at an early stage and achieve high survival rates. Right now, we only have the capability to detect five types of cancer — breast, cervical, colorectal, lung and prostate. Seven of every 10 cancer deaths are tied to types of disease for which we do not have early detection tests. Not every North Carolinian, particularly those in rural areas without easy access to transportation, utilizes recommended cancer screenings like mammograms or colonoscopies. Multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests could be administered by primary care providers, which would help ensure that our cancer screening infrastructure covers the underserved. MCED technologies utilize cutting-edge genomic research and machine learning to identify DNA signatures that cancerous tumors leave in the bloodstream. I’m proud to say that North Carolina is taking the lead in researching and developing these promising technologies, which will create hundreds of jobs in the process. The promise of these innovative tools, however, doesn’t mean that patients will be able to access them. That’s going to require some work in Washington, D.C.

Once these tests get the green light from the FDA, senior citizens, the population most likely to be diagnosed and die from cancer, need to be able to utilize them. Under current law, Medicare cannot immediately cover preventive cancer screening tools, even if the FDA deems them safe and effective. That’s why bipartisan groups of lawmakers in both the U.S. Senate and House, including Congresswoman Terri Sewell of Alabama, my friend and former Congressional Black Caucus chair G.K. Butterfield, and fellow N.C. Reps. Alma Adams, Richard Hudson, Greg Murphy, and Sen. Richard Burr have introduced legislation — the Multi-Cancer Early Detection Coverage Screening Act — that would cut through the extensive bureaucratic delays and enable Medicare to provide access to this screening technology once it is approved. Congress has done this before to enable coverage of currently recommended cancer screening tools like mammograms. I wholeheartedly encourage other Congressional leaders to join the push in making it happen now. Cancer is an ongoing tragedy that has plagued generations of Americans — disproportionately so for people of color. North Carolina is recognizing this problem and acting to address it. Medical science and technology may be on the verge of providing an important solution. We need forward-looking public policy actions to complete the job.