This policy brief reviews the evidence on the health and cost impacts of multi-cancer early detection (MCED) tests, and the implications for proposed legislation to enhance their utilization in Medicare. We find that the evidence base suggests that MCED screening raises lifetime gains from improved health by an amount valued at $49,000. This implies that fully screening a cohort of 4.1 million people, the approximate Medicare-eligible population turning 65 each year, would entail a potential aggregate value of $200.9 billion in improved health. We estimated the aggregate value of MCED screening applied to the existing Medicare population of 40.9 million aged 65 years and above to be $1.1 trillion. The “Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act” has been proposed to provide Medicare coverage of MCED tests. CBO scoring of the Act would be limited to these federal budget effects in the next 10 years, but offsetting benefits due to improved health are not taken into consideration for budgetary effects.
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