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This episode is sponsored by the Rural Health Research Gateway at the University of North Dakota.

Cancer diagnosis has changed radically in the era of precision medicine. New techniques like multi-cancer early-detection screening tests can detect up to 50 types of cancer from a single blood draw.

We generally think of early detection, especially of cancer, as an unambiguously good thing. Given that, you might assume and expect that insurers would readily pay for it. But it turns out the considerations regarding insurance coverage for these screening tests are quite complex.

As is often the case, advances in medical technology have accelerated beyond certain policies that were put in place when cancer diagnosis and treatment were very different.

Kathryn Phillips from the University of California San Francisco joins A Health Podyssey to discuss how we can gain the advantages of better cancer screening technologies as they emerge.

Phillips and coauthors published a paper in the March 2022 edition of Health Affairs examining payment considerations for multi-cancer screening tests. They outline clinical and economic considerations that will have to adjust to meet the new reality.

If you enjoy this interview, order the March 2022 Health Affairs issue to get research on hospitals, health equity, care delivery and more.

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