From cancer survivor to advocate, the journey I’ve traveled for more than three decades has shaped how I see the power of policy. When lawmakers act with urgency and with purpose, patients gain something priceless: time.
Since I established Día de la Mujer Latina in 1997, we’ve grown from a small grassroots effort to a national movement focused on culturally relevant education, early detection, and patient navigation.
For me this work is deeply personal. I am a three-time breast cancer survivor. Each diagnosis tested me in new ways, but it also strengthened my resolve. My own diagnosis gave me a purpose: to help women in underserved communities access information and support that could save their lives.
Cancer has taught me that survivorship is not just about living longer. It’s about being present for your family, having choices in your care, and finding purpose in helping others. That’s why I have dedicated so much of my time to advocating for meaningful, patient-centered policies, from the Texas Capitol to Washington, D.C. That is also why this moment matters.
In a time when division often defines Washington, the passage of the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act stands out. U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington’s leadership helped turn a promising idea into real progress for patients across the country.
This legislation brings us closer to a future where cancers can be found earlier, when they are more treatable and outcomes are stronger. Today, too many cancers are still detected too late, when options are limited and the toll on patients and families is far greater.
Multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests have the potential to change that by detecting multiple cancers through a simple blood draw, often before symptoms appear. Recent large-scale clinical research adds to that momentum, with encouraging findings that these tests are helping to detect cancers earlier and reduce late-stage diagnoses, including for some of the most aggressive forms of the disease.
The need for that progress is urgent. More than 600,000 people lose their lives to cancer in the U.S. each year, and nearly half of those deaths are tied to a diagnosis at Stage IV. Even more striking, most cancer deaths are tied to cancers that currently have no routine screening options, including pancreatic, liver and ovarian cancers. These are the cancers that too often go undetected until it is too late.
Without the passage of Rep. Arrington’s bill, Medicare beneficiaries might have had to wait 10 years or more to ensure coverage and access to MCED testing – even once the technology was FDA approved. That delay would have cost lives. Now that this bill is law, once the FDA approves MCED tests, they can be considered for coverage in Medicare, reaching the people who need them the most.
The idea that dozens of cancers might be detected through routine blood work is no longer theoretical. When combined with our existing screening options, MCED has the potential to close gaps that have left too many communities behind.
Leadership in Congress, like that shown by Rep. Arrington, helps move ideas into action and deliver real progress for patients. For those of us who have faced cancer, this progress underscores what effective, patient-focused policy can deliver.
As this law is fully implemented, the focus turns to making sure patients can benefit without delay. That follow-through is what makes policy meaningful. For patients and families, it can mean earlier answers and more time to focus on what matters most.
Editor’s Note: The above guest column was penned by Venus Gines, founder of Día de la Mujer Latina. The column appears in the Rio Grande Guardian with the permission of the author.
